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Welcome and Introduction

Introduction Embracing New Projects As the nights draw in and the cooler weather sets in, it’s a perfect time to embark on a new project. Is it still worth setting up a test lab in an era where predefined automations and scripted setups dominate? While automation tools can streamline many tasks, they often rely on pre configured solutions that may not address every unique scenario. The Role of Cloud Computing While cloud computing remains a crucial component of many IT infrastructures, it’s not always the best choice for every scenario, particularly when it comes to hands-on learning and developing a deep understanding of systems. For this lab project, I’ve chosen to focus on self-hosting instead of using cloud services. By building and managing everything locally, I gain more control over each aspect of the setup, which allows for a deeper, more detailed learning experience that cloud environments sometimes abstract away. This approach ensures a thorough understanding of the under...

Palate Cleanser Music and Minecraft

Palate Cleanser: Turning a Brix Mini PC into a Minecraft Server & Music Player Work has been really busy since the new year, so my allocated training time has had to give way to more critical tasks. The test lab project has been on hold for now, however, I’ve still been doing some tinkering in my spare time. I took a short break from the lab and decided to work on a personal project. I picked up a Gigabyte Brix off eBay for about £60, a small form-factor PC, and decided to repurpose it. Instead of running Windows 10, I installed Ubuntu Server, which matched the default OS of my Raspberry Pis and NAS, keeping everything consistent across my setup. Here’s a quick rundown of what I did. Setting Up the Minecraft Server Installed Ubuntu Server – replacing the preinstalled Windows 10. Installed Docker & Portainer – to manage containers easily. Set up a Minecraft Docker container – now the whole family can join and play together. With the Minecraft server running, I had a comp...