I am finally in the appearance stage of my new office since I have now sorted out the network and general layout of the furniture. I am currently not happy with the way everything looks, but since most of it consists of used items I have picked up and hardware someone was going to throw away, it isn’t a bad start! The cabinets were left with the house, the flooring was ripped up to be thrown away from an existing room, and most of all the hardware was sourced from items that were going to be disposed of at various jobs.

Above, is where the house’s 1.2G internet connects to a NETGEAR Nighthawk cable modem, NETGEAR Nighthawk mesh Wi-Fi system (4 satellites,) patch panel (connecting office and son’s gaming setup in the basement), and an extra 5-port switch I got used, which is powering 2 UniFi PoE injectors (for future additions).

Over the weekend, I cleaned up the network cabling by adding covers/runners, mounted both APs (one for the ‘office’ network and one for the ‘main house’ network), hung up some pictures I had lying around, and finished up the new Nest video surveillance system by adding another Nest Floodlight Camera covering the garage.

I still have the following to do:

• Replace/Upgrade my main monitor that just died (curved 32″ 165hz 1440p)
• Paint/stain cabinets to match the desk (or continue to wrap it with carbon fiber) or purchase a new standing rack and bookcase that matches better (and not used!)
• Purchase artwork (currently using pictures we had lying around).
• Install 3D wall panels at various parts of the room (instead of painting)
• Purchase a rug/protective floor covering
• Purchase a standing lamp (with more Philips Hue lights)
• Purchase a TV for over the desk (have swivel wall mount already)
• Purchase/build another desk between the cabinets (in front of the window)
• Purchase 2 UniFi cameras (indoor (covering office door) and outdoor (covering office window))
• Install dimming overhead switch for lights
• UPS battery backup for rack
• Continue to replace network equipment with UniFi products

PC Part List (currently researching next upgrade path)

• EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra Gaming
• Seasonic PX1300 Platinum Power Supply
• TUF Gaming X570-Pro (Wi-Fi 6)
• AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
• NZXT Kraken X63 AIO 280mm
• 3 DeepCool RF120 RGB Fans
• 3 Noctua 140mm NF-A14 iPPC-3000 PWM, Heavy Duty Cooling Fans (3000 RPM)
• Noctua 80mm NF-A8 PWM Premium Quiet Fan (2200 RPM)
• DeepCool 80mm Fan mounted on an old Intel stock CPU heatsink (mounted on GPU)
• DeepCool THETA 20 PWM 100mm CPU cooler (mounted on GPU)
• 32GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4-3600
• Samsung 970 EVO SSD 1TB – M.2 NVMe
• WD Blue 1TB HDD
• Phanteks Evolv ATX Case

Having a home lab is vital for furthering your career; it gives you access to hardware and software you may have otherwise never been exposed to, allows you to test updates and scripts without effecting your business, and provides you with some solitude to help you focus on studying for certifications. I am looking forward to finishing this room soon, as tax season will help!