Will's Recommendations
Thanks for checking out my recommendations! This page features a collection of tech products that I personally have used and would recommend to others. You can find detailed information about each product below, as well as an Amazon referral link (please note, I may make a commission if you choose to purchase). I am not the seller of any of these products however, so of course please do your due diligence too! For more analytical deep dives, studies, and scripts, feel free to head over to my Medium journal.
16GB DDR4 SO-DIMM 2666 MHz RAM
Many ML models use every bit of memory available, putting a premium on each slot in my PC. These RAM sticks I've bought four of now, and at just over $25 a stick is a great and cost-effective way to upgrade a homelab node.
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HP EliteDesk 800 G4 Mini i7-8700T
I have one of these units hosting docker and multiple dashboards and images. The 6-core i7 is great, and I even was sent a model with the i7-8700 instead of 8700T. I did upgrade the RAM and SSD on my own also with the other links here.
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Standing Indirect Lighting Lamps
Ok, while technically this isn't a fancy homelab part, my office was a sterile cool white color before I got these lamps. They have an incredible warm glow that makes my office much more comfortable to work in and well lit.
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Samsung EVO 870 1TB SATA III SSD
A reliable hard drive is worth every penny, and I'm happy to pay a premium for a high quaity one. At $60 a TB, these drives are great and host many of my datasets and my MySQL server. I was sent the wrong units by mistake but Amazon sent me brand new drives the next day.
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Samsung 256 GB Micro SD
I love Samsung storage, and these SD cards were on sale cheap when I got them and are great for storing data for my Raspberry Pi, Odroid XU4, or Nintendo Switch!
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Samsung 128 GB Micro SD with USB Reader
This is very similar to the other listing, but I'm adding for another size and also because of the USB adapter!
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68.8 in Office Desk and Shelf
I just got this desk to replace the credenza I was using in my home office. The price is great, and usually has a coupon to add in cart too. Setting it up took less than an hour and it is very sturdy. The side shelves host my homelab, UPS, printer, and tools with ease!
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CyberPower 12 Outlet UPS System
I'll be honest, if I lose power I'm out-of-luck anyway, but having a battery backup will give me a few minutes post-alarm to gracefully shutdown my computers without bricking my services. And at just above $100, the price for the product can't be beat.
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Keychron Full Size Keyboard
I love the retro look of this keyboard. It reminds me of my very first PC and the brown switches provide the tactile click I look for while typing without the loud noise. I also frequently switch between Mac and Windows so the interoperability of this setup is great! I'd love to see Keychron make this model backlit in the future though.
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SATA Dual Bay Drive Cloner
I bought this tool to clone the preloaded Windows 10 OS drives I got in my mini PCs to larger drives. It is snappy and easy to use! My only complaint is some cleanup is needed on the drive post clone, and I needed to use 3rd part software to expand the volume to the size of the storage available.
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27" IPS Monitor
It was time to replace my old TV I was using as a monitor from my college days, and two of these monitors gave me the view I needed to get my work done. I got these on sale at a little over $100 or so a piece, and the resolution is comfortable enough for me to stare at without strain all day.
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Samsung Full Size 128 GB PRO SD Card
My DSLR camera is always packed with me whether I'm just going for a short hike outside of town or a grand vacation someplace exotic. I always shoot RAW photos too and at 35+ MB a snap, two of these SD cards give me all the storage I need for a week long trip.
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Samsung Full Size 128 GB PRO SD Card with USB Reader
This is the same as the previous listing, but with a USB reader included!
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Amazon Basics Multi-Color Cable Zip Ties
These are great for cable management - enough said. Next time I might buy 6 or 8 inches long though.
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Ten Cat-6 7' Long Patch Cables
Nothing super special about these, they do exactly what I need them to do and at a decent price.
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RJ45 Crimp Tool Kit
Ok, now this product I HIGHLY recommend. Awesome kit and provides everything you need (except for a spool of wire), and at half the price of some home improvement resale stores. I used kit this to rewire all of the ends of my apartment to my networking box and it save me HOURS compared to wiring and trimming by hand.
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HP EliteDesk 800 G1 Mini i5-4570T
This PC is about as "budget friendly" while still being effective for a homelab as I can recommend. You can keep the OS or load your own, and the tech specs beat similarly priced micro computers while using marginally more power. I also received two upgraded units with i5-6500T instead of the i5-4750T too which was a pleasant surprise. The RAM I quickly supplemented with another 16GB and I swapped out the smaller SSD for a larger one too.
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Silicon Power 3D NAND 2TB SATA III SSD
This is a great budget friendly SSD! I've been using it more than fine now for backups, and the price of $60 for 2TB is incredible.
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YLIMPC M3 Intel Core i7-10810U
At 6 cores, 12 threads, 15w, and up to nearly 5GHz, this tiny PC is a BEAST. I use it to play some non-graphics heavy games as well as for performing compute tasks and hosting simple VMs. I upgraded the RAM and added a SATA SSD for good measure too. Keep an eye on the price also! While currently it is $500 I got a Prime flash sale price of $350 on my unit.
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NETGEAR 8-Port Unmanaged Gigabit Switch
This network switch does exactly what I need it to do, and I bought two 8 port switches instead of one 16 switch. I don't need a managed switch with my current setup and it was easy to plug and play with homelab, office setup, and PlayStation 5.
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Six Cat-6 1' Long Flat Patch Cables
These ethernet cables are great for a discreet and clean patch look networking your homelab. Since they are flat, they easily fit between nodes or gaps, and look very slick side-by-side.
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HP ProDesk 600 G3 Mini i5-7500T
I bought two of these units for budget performance computing nodes for my homelab. While unforuntately I received i5-7400T's instead of 7500T's, the difference in price and performance wasn't enough to really complain about. That being said, it gets the job done for me and at a solid price point while consuming low power.
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