Introduction #
So i just had my last exam, which was electrical engineering. Yesterday i had Mechanical engineering exam which was really difficult and did not really go smoothly so i am not really sure about that one. The eletrical engineering exam was also difficult but i did manage to fill in most stuff but i dont know if i passed on that either, but max 8 Juli we get the grades. I am atleast happy that now i finished all exams and i get my well deserved schoolbreak. And also the heatwave in the Netherlands is over again but next week i saw that then we get another one, but one thats less hot (35 degrees C max instead of 40 degrees C max). And i have put all websites up again as now i dont have to fear my server melting like a cube of ice (joke).
School break and work #
When i got out school i cycled to the nearby market and bought a portion dutch fried fish (kibeling) to give myself a little treat for working hard and studying hard. I am still kind of sad that i did not enjoy the heatwave we had previous week and that i had to study in 40 degrees C but i am proud of myself for showing any level of dedication and focus on school in that hot last week. Now i have 3 weeks break until i go on vacation with my parents to France and some other places in Europe. But idk what i will do these few weeks. I will probably work a lot this month so i can get enough money and earn a nice amount so i can continue the homelab hobby and maintain and upgrade my homelab and for my own enjoyment as the only money i get is study financing for the fact i am studying and my monthly pocket money and its not enough to sustain everything from it. And i like the job i have now, which as i mentioned in an earlier psot is helping other people with their computer or technology issues. My next customer is tomorrow at 10:30 and its near my dads work so thqats nice and the woman might even recognise or know me from my dads work but i dont know and that does not really matter.
Decision about possibly switching study #
So because i did find the solidworks exam and mechanical engineering exam difficult as mechanical engineering does not really attract my attention and i failed the soldiworks exam already for the 2nd time, i was thinking about possibly switching study from mechatronics to either electrical engineering or IT.Mechatronics is fun, dont get me wrong, but its a wide study that incorporates all sorts of elements and mixes electrical, mechanical and software stuff and if i dont like some of it, it may be a better choice to choose something that suits me well/i am more interested in. And also because i already am behidn the rest. And while its not wrong or stupid to be left behind, i dont know if the future will get harder and if i am already barely able to touch the sky, i dont know if i even will be able to do so in the future evolution of the subjects we get with mechatronics. And i have that if i am not interested or less interested in something, its harder to get the theory and stuff to stick in my brain or find motivation to do so. With electrical and software that attracts me more and i remember stuff from those subjects easier.
But i can ofcourse also go down a level to middle education (MBO) and also the benefits are that you do more physicall things instead of the majority of it being Theory. My friend Diando and someone i know from DJOE (de jonge onderzoekers eindhoven, a student/child club where you can do electronics, programming, computers and more) are doing MBO and it seems like they like it very much.
Electrical engineering seems fun #
So i was deciding between either IT or Electrical engineering. IT is more the software and computer side and is also partially logic and solving puzzles, while electrical is calculating and solving (complex) circuits and also is a ton of math, but really more applied math and knowing your formulas. I do have difficulty with math but my sense and logic part of my brain is really good. Electronics has always been a bit in my DNA and i still do it in my freetime but more freelancing and i learn from youtube and by breaking and making stuff. In terms of job possibilities, electrical engineering does provide a lot of choice. You can become a system/circuit designer/engineer, you can test electronics, you can do electrical stuff and more. This higher grade study (HBO) does mean you will be doing less physicall and more will use your head.
IT/computer stuff also seems fun #
I do programming since i was 12, mostly in python though but its still programming. And since a year or so i run my own Homelab, but i always have helped my parents or other people with their computers or wifi networks or whatnot and i am also in charge of the network at our home. And as i said ina previous post, i found a job that makes use off those IT skills and helping people and this week i have 6 customers i can help which is nice as i do want to earn a bit more this month so i can buy new hardware and upgrade and maintain my homelab as its expensive (also partially due to the AI caused component shortage). I also learned these skills by messing with and fixing computers and watching youtube. And i know the basics (and a bit more) about Linux, python, git, github and such which are some widely used tools in the work and developer field. I can then later become a cloud engineer or a embedded devices programmer or a cybersecurity specialist and more.
Or going down a level #
So as i mentioned earlier i cna also go down a level to MBO. But i dont know if that will be too easy for me and i dont mind a challenge but i dont want to be bored by subjects that dont attract me at all like mechanics. I do think i am very capable of HBO but then rather with a study i am willing to work hard for and that makes me interested and makes me sit at the edge of my chair.
Anyways i dont know what choice i will make and 3 Juli i have a little talk with my Study coach about it. When i want to do IT i do have to move to another building, but that building is a few meters from our original Nexus building on the TU (Technische Universiteit Eindhoven) and a upside is that there is a connecting busline so instead of going to the station and walking 15 minutes from there to our Nexus building, i can just instantly walk into the door from the Bus. If i do electrical engineering its in the same building i am in now. I do like the building i currently have as its big and provides enough sit and study places and coffee machines, but idk how the other building is inside. Sadly all open days are already finished so i cant really taste test it and idk if i can already sign up for a new study or if the sign in moments are already ended. But i will talk about that with my mentor and take care of that with me and my parents.
Homelab work #
UPS (Uninterruptable powersupply) #
So i also want to work further on the homelab. I recently bought 2 UPS units from Marktplaats (Dutch ebay kind off). One is a APC smart UPS 1000 i bought for 40 euro with bad batteries and i also bought a Energenie (Gembird brand) eg-ups0-1000. I always wanted to have a UPS incase the power dips or there is a mild surge. This way i cna protect my NAS which holds important data like passwords and backups off all proxmox services and VM/LXC’s as harddrives dont like rough shutdowns and the hdds i bought where 4x 2tb and they are kid of expensive (for me) and i dont yet have it offload to a cloud reliably so i will also work on that as i rather have redundancy for my redundancy. I have already ZFS so if 1 drive fails it uses the other drives but i want to eliminate the fact of my house burning down or a lightning strike killing everything and me not having backups and its always handy to backup via the 3,2,1 method. 3 backups, 2 places and 1 offloaded.
Buying extra nodes. #
So i only have my gaming pc, my nas system, opnsense box and homeasistant mini pc and i want to expand the lab with more mini pcs as they are damn efficient. I want to possibly move my websites to a dedicated mini pc node and maybe my reverse proxy and vpn also to a sdeperate node, that way i cna use my gaming pc which i now use to run everything purely for heavy loads like AI (if i add a GPU when GPUs dont cost thousands anymore) or debian or windows virutal machines. And i probably will then see if i can get a neat rack. Also i wil probably upgrade some cabling and other stuf and tidy things up. Might even move opnsense form the big hp 280g2 pc i have now to a mini pc as i dont need a whole desktop big box purely for a router/firewall and its just bulky. I will also probably upgrade the switch eventually to one with POE and more ports.
Proper VLAN and firewall rules #
I also will seperate my network and devices using VLANs so incase my servers get compromised (not impossible), they cant hack my other devices on the network. And i will apply some firewall rules to block all ports other than the few that are needed to increase security further. I did apply some firewall rules but i am not happy with them and not all where working so i barely use any good ones/proper setup ones. And i will probably on the VPS setup firewall rules as i only really need ports 80/443 for webserver stuff and port 22 for ssh and maybe some others but now its wide open (it does have strong password and ssh key though).
And other optimisations are to come. And i want to start with selfhosting my own search engine using SearXNG and my own discord alternative with matrix and cinny. But for now i will start with the basics. And i first have to clean up my room as its quite messy and things are all over the place and its full of dust.
Big cleanup #
And once every half year i do whats called a grand cleanup. This means really grand, aka taking everything out of the room (including servers and such) and cleaning off everything and dusting off and if needed, apply fresh thermalpaste on my hardware. This usually involes me first taking everything homelab related offline. First my NAs, then my proxmox server, then my switch, then my setup, then my opnsense box and even the Wifi access point. And the i dust off everything and clean it up using a wet wipe.And use the vacuum to clear up any debris/crumbs. This is once every 6 months as to make sure my servers dont become a dust farm or get completely clogged with dust and debris.And its every 6 months so i dont unplug and replug every month as thats bad for the components/conectors.
Signing off. #
So thats it for now. I am happy and healthy and i am currently enjoying my free time. And as promised i wrote this article after i finished all exams. Progress has been going a bit slowly and i kind of dropped the Musicbox project but i will pick it up slowly and surely over the next weeks. But i also will spend some free time as i deserve it.
Be well, stay healthy and bye