Are you even a true tech enthusiast if you don’t travel with a fully virtualized homelab? Enter my GMKTek N97-powered travel server: a 12GB RAM, 512GB HDD, 4TB of external SSD storage beast that will probably never see 5% CPU utilization, but hey, it’s there when I need it. Running Proxmox, because of course, and serving up Plex, network-wide ad blocking, and whatever other services I can justify running while sipping an overpriced airport coffee.

The Hardware: “Because I Could”

You could say this machine is overkill. You’d be right, but I won’t acknowledge it. With an Intel N97, this bad boy is basically a supercomputer (if you squint really hard and ignore benchmarks). It pairs beautifully with a GL.iNet travel router, ensuring that I can overcomplicate my networking on the go. Oh, and let’s not forget the 4TB TeamGroup QLC SSD dangling off a USB 3.0 port—because nothing says “reliability” like a giant external drive balancing precariously in a backpack.

For scale, you’ll notice a quarter in the picture. Not because you needed it, but because nothing screams ‘this is serious tech’ like an everyday object for reference. That quarter has been through a lot—probably more than this server will ever be asked to do.

The Services: Because Simplicity is for Quitters

  • Plex: Who needs streaming services when you have a personal Netflix-in-a-box? And thanks to hardware-based transcoding, even my most absurdly large 4K files stream like butter, assuming my travel router doesn’t throw a tantrum.
  • Network-wide Ad Blocking: Because even hotel Wi-Fi pop-ups should bow to my will.
  • Miscellaneous Overengineering: Various services that I don’t technically need, but let’s pretend they’re essential.

The Reality: Just Because You Can…

In practice, my travel server spends most of its time waiting for me to do something interesting with it. But when that moment arrives—when I absolutely must stream a 4K movie from my own library in the middle of nowhere—I’ll be ready.

Is this all unnecessary? Yes. Will that stop me from packing it up and bringing it on every trip? Absolutely not. Because if a tech blogger doesn’t bring an entire home lab on vacation, did they even travel at all?

(Also, this post was partially written by AI. Because if I’m going to let a machine handle my ad-blocking, media streaming, and networking, I might as well let it handle my jokes too.)

// person here. Thought it would be fun to have ChatGPT write a humorous tech blog. yes, I will be traveling with it.

Originally posted by u/geosmack on Reddit.com/r/homelab

beep boop I’m a bot to seed discussions from Reddit. Upvote or downvote posts like normal, discuss the topics here as well!

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