In case you’re not familiar, the vBrownBag is a community podcast/webinar series that was started in 2011 by Cody Bunch. Before I get into the post, I’d like to extend a big Thank You for all that the #vBrownBag crew does. I have had the pleasure of meeting a few of these folks at various events, and they are a great group of people that are fully committed to the community that they serve.
Every year in early December, the vBrownBag hosts an end of year Give-Away. Being an avid listener of the podcasts for a couple of years now, I checked it out and submitted my name in the contest. If you have not checked out a #vBrownBag podcast or webinar, I highly recommend that you do so- I cannot begin to express the amount of knowledge I have gained from this community. Seriously, go listen. Now. This post will still be here when you get back.
Fast forward a few weeks. While I was upgrading our production storage arrays at work, I received a couple of messages on Twitter congratulating me on winning the Home Lab Kit provided by ClearPath Solutions Group. I was ecstatic! A few weeks later, after synching up with Chris Emery at Clearpath Solutions Group, I had the home lab gear in hand and started to build it out. I want to give a special shout out to Jonathan Frappier, who organized this years event, and Chris Emery from Clearpath Solutions Group. It’s a privilege to be involved in such a great community.
The mATX format is an ideal fit for home labs, as it doesn’t take up much room and you really aren’t sacrificing too much when it comes to adding peripherals. I really like the Apevia case and the pull out tray makes assembly extremely easy. Without ranting on further, here are some pics of the new “vBrownBag Lab Host”.
Home LAB Build:
Case: APEVIA X-QPACK – http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144162
Memory: (2) Team Elite Plus 16GB – http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313427&cm_re=TPD316G1333C9DC01--20-313-427--Product
Motherboard: GIGABYTE 78LMT-USB3 760G AM3+ – http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128565&cm_re=GIGABYTEGA-78LMT-USB3760G_AM3%2b--13-128-565-_-Product
CPU: AMD 6-CORE FX-6300 3.5G 8M – http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113286&cm_re=fx-6300--19-113-286--Product