All used: 2019ish Intel NUC i7, 32-64GB RAM, run ESXi 7, 4 Bay QNAP or Synology with a Celeron, 8TB spinners, TP-Link ER605, an Omada POE switch, and an Omada AP.

You end up with a great setup for VMs, a reliable Plex server using the NAS CPU, multi-WAN, rock solid VPN, and a UniFi/Meraki like experience, and you don’t notice it on the electric bill, your ears, the shelf, or the room temperature.

This doesn’t differ at all from my existing setup. My only regret was not starting with 64GB of RAM on the NUC instead of the 32GB I started with.

All you need is a NUC running ESXi lol

My core i7 64GB NUC from 2019 has been doing great and isn’t seen on the electric bill or in my office. Get a little 4 bay QNAP or Synology to practice with data stores.

Mention it in a section for hobbies and interests. I try to intentionally hire techs that homelab. It shows you’re passionate about learning!

The investment I made into a QNAP for Plex to replace all my streaming 5 years ago has already paid itself off. It’s also ridiculous convenient if you setup something like a NUC with ESXi to get to labbing straight away with lower energy consumption. Think of it beyond terms of just practice.