[{"content":"Welcome to Hallumina\u0026rsquo;s Morrowind multiplayer server!\nThis guide walks you through preparing a clean Windows installation, installing our required mods, configuring TES3MP, and connecting to the Hallumina server.\nNote: Join our Discord to request access to the server: https://discord.gg/k3qqaRKA5T\nServer Information # Setting Value Game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Multiplayer Engine TES3MP 0.8.1 / OpenMW 0.47 Supported Client Windows Required Plugins 48 Server Address REDACTED Port 25565 Protocol UDP Important: Hallumina checks plugin names, order, and file checksums. Please follow this guide rather than automatically updating mods to their newest available versions.\n1. Install Morrowind and TES3MP # You need a legitimate copy of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, including both expansions:\nMorrowind Tribunal Bloodmoon We recommend maintaining a separate installation exclusively for Hallumina.\nDownload TES3MP # Download the standard 64-bit Windows release of TES3MP 0.8.1.\nLINK: Download TES3MP 0.8.1 for Windows\nLINK: View the official GitHub release.\nDo not download a VR build or substitute a newer development build.\nRecommended Directories # Create these folders:\nC:\\Games\\Morrowind-TES3MP C:\\Games\\TES3MP-0.8.1 Copy your clean Morrowind installation into:\nC:\\Games\\Morrowind-TES3MP Extract TES3MP into:\nC:\\Games\\TES3MP-0.8.1 Keep this installation separate from any existing single-player Morrowind setup to avoid mod conflicts.\n2. Download Hallumina\u0026rsquo;s Required Mods # The following mods form Hallumina\u0026rsquo;s current multiplayer modpack.\nMod Required Version / Selection Tamriel_Data 26.08 Tamriel Rebuilt 26.08 Patch for Purists 5.0.6 Morrowind Optimization Patch Mesh/optimization files Tribunal Rebalance 1.2 Bloodmoon Rebalance 1.4.1 Beware the Sixth House 3.0.2 Cutting Room Floor Modular 1.8 Morrowind Comes Alive 8.2 Download each mod from its linked project page.\nA Note About Versions # The latest available download is not necessarily compatible with Hallumina.\nFor example, Tamriel Rebuilt and Tamriel_Data may receive subsequent updates. The server requires the versions matching its configured plugin checksums.\nIf you receive a plugin checksum error, contact the administrator before updating, removing, or replacing files.\n3. Install the Mod Files # All required mod content should be installed into your dedicated Morrowind directory:\nC:\\Games\\Morrowind-TES3MP\\Data Files Tamriel_Data # Open the downloaded Tamriel_Data archive.\nFind:\nTamriel_Data\\00 Data Files Copy the contents of that folder into your Morrowind Data Files directory.\nTamriel Rebuilt # Install the contents of these archive folders:\n00 Core\\Data Files 01 Faction Integration\\Data Files Copy their contents into your Morrowind installation\u0026rsquo;s Data Files directory.\nPatch for Purists # Copy its .esm and included loose-file folders into Data Files.\nRemaining Mods # Install Morrowind Optimization Patch after Patch for Purists, merging the loose-file folders.\nThen install:\nTribunal Rebalance Bloodmoon Rebalance Beware the Sixth House Cutting Room Floor — Modular Morrowind Comes Alive Include the required resources supplied with each mod.\nImportant Exclusions # For Hallumina\u0026rsquo;s current configuration:\nDo not enable Cutting Room Floor - Sounds.esp. Do not enable optional Cutting Room Floor merged plugins. Do not install Morrowind Code Patch specifically to make TES3MP work. TES3MP uses OpenMW rather than the original patched Morrowind.exe. Avoid nested directories.\nFor example, this is incorrect:\nData Files\\Data Files\\Meshes The correct structure is:\nData Files\\Meshes Data Files\\Textures Data Files\\*.esm Data Files\\*.esp Copy the contents of the mod\u0026rsquo;s Data Files folder, not the containing folder itself.\n4. Enable the Required Plugins # Open the TES3MP/OpenMW launcher.\nConfigure the location of your dedicated Morrowind installation, then navigate to the Data Files section.\nEnable the plugins in the exact order shown below.\nHallumina\u0026rsquo;s Required 48-Plugin Order # The following list reflects the existing order enforced by Hallumina\u0026rsquo;s server configuration. It is not a newly optimized load order.\n01. Morrowind.esm 02. Tribunal.esm 03. Bloodmoon.esm 04. Beware the Sixth House.ESP 05. Bloodmoon Rebalance.ESP 06. Cutting Room Floor - Ald Redaynia.esp 07. Cutting Room Floor - Ald-ruhn Underground.esp 08. Cutting Room Floor - Animations.esp 09. Cutting Room Floor - Bal Ur Ordinators.esp 10. Cutting Room Floor - Blightstorm.esp 11. Cutting Room Floor - Characters.esp 12. Cutting Room Floor - Conjuration.esp 13. Cutting Room Floor - Containers.esp 14. Cutting Room Floor - Corrected Worldspaces.esp 15. Cutting Room Floor - Creatures \u0026amp; Diseases.esp 16. Cutting Room Floor - Dagoth Ur.esp 17. Cutting Room Floor - Dead Heroes.esp 18. Cutting Room Floor - Dialogue.esp 19. Cutting Room Floor - Extra Additions.esp 20. Cutting Room Floor - Extra Jobs.esp 21. Cutting Room Floor - Extra Orders.esp 22. Cutting Room Floor - Free Slaves.esp 23. Cutting Room Floor - Herders.esp 24. Cutting Room Floor - Items.esp 25. Cutting Room Floor - Keys.esp 26. Cutting Room Floor - Kill Neloth.esp 27. Cutting Room Floor - Market Stands.esp 28. Cutting Room Floor - Master Trainer.esp 29. Cutting Room Floor - Missing Persons.esp 30. Cutting Room Floor - Mournhold Caverns.esp 31. Cutting Room Floor - Quests.esp 32. Cutting Room Floor - Sheogorad.esp 33. Cutting Room Floor - Shrine Blessings.esp 34. Cutting Room Floor - Solstheim Travel.esp 35. Cutting Room Floor - Spells.esp 36. Cutting Room Floor - Stronghold Homes.esp 37. Cutting Room Floor - Tamrielic Lore.esp 38. Cutting Room Floor - Tarvyn\u0026#39;s Guar.esp 39. Cutting Room Floor - Taverns.esp 40. Cutting Room Floor - Umbra.esp 41. Cutting Room Floor - Voice Lines.esp 42. Cutting Room Floor - Vor Lair.esp 43. MCA.esm 44. Patch for Purists.esm 45. Tamriel_Data.esm 46. TR_Mainland.esm 47. TR_Factions.esp 48. Tribunal Rebalance.ESP Every listed plugin must be enabled.\nAdditional plugins should remain disabled when connecting to Hallumina.\nServer Checksum Reference # The server maintains an authoritative requiredDataFiles.json containing the exact accepted plugin names, order, and checksums.\nDownload Hallumina\u0026rsquo;s requiredDataFiles.json\nThis file is provided as a reference for troubleshooting and checksum comparison. It is not a replacement for installing the actual mods.\n5. Check Your OpenMW Archive Configuration # Find your OpenMW Configuration File (openmw.cfg), and verify that the vanilla fallback archives include:\nfallback-archive=Morrowind.bsa fallback-archive=Tribunal.bsa fallback-archive=Bloodmoon.bsa Remove obsolete archive references such as:\nfallback-archive=PT_Data.bsa fallback-archive=TR_Data.bsa Hallumina\u0026rsquo;s current Tamriel_Data installation does not require registering those historical BSA files.\n6. Connect to Hallumina # Navigate to your TES3MP installation:\nC:\\Games\\TES3MP-0.8.1 Open:\ntes3mp-client-default.cfg Under [General], configure the following settings:\n[General] destinationAddress = REDACTED port = 25565 password = Leave the password blank unless an administrator supplies one.\nSave the configuration file.\nLaunch the multiplayer client:\nC:\\Games\\TES3MP-0.8.1\\tes3mp.exe TES3MP should attempt to connect directly to Hallumina.\nTroubleshooting # Plugin List Rejected # Verify that all 48 required plugins are enabled in the specified order.\nEnsure that your downloaded files match the server\u0026rsquo;s required versions and checksums.\nAvoid automatically updating Tamriel Rebuilt, Tamriel_Data, or other required mods after configuration.\nIf the problem persists, contact the administrator with the exact rejection message.\nMissing Meshes or Textures # Check that your archive extraction did not accidentally create nested Data Files directories.\nVerify that the required loose-file resources from each mod were copied into the correct location.\nUnable to Connect # Check the server address and UDP port:\nREDACTED:25565 Confirm the server is currently available and that your local firewall/network allows TES3MP traffic.\nCan I Use My Existing Morrowind Saves? # TES3MP maintains multiplayer progression through server-side player and world data.\nOrdinary single-player saves are not used as the multiplayer progression system.\nNeed Help? # Having trouble installing mods, matching plugin checksums, or connecting to Hallumina?\nJoin our community Discord for installation assistance, server updates, and development discussions.\nJoin the Hallumina Discord →\n← Back to Connection Guides\n","date":"28 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/guides/tes3mp/","section":"Connection Guides","summary":"","title":"TES3MP — Player Installation Guide","type":"guides"},{"content":" Server Information # Expansion: Wrath of the Lich King\nClient: 3.3.5a\nStatus: Coming Soon\nA custom Wrath of the Lich King server featuring an active world, playerbots, and ongoing development.\nConnection instructions and server details will be published here.\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/servers/wotlk/","section":"Servers","summary":"","title":"Wrath of the Lich King","type":"servers"},{"content":" Server Information # Game: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind\nPlatform: TES3MP\nStatus: Coming Soon\nA multiplayer Morrowind world with a curated mod setup.\nMod requirements and connection instructions will be published here.\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/servers/tes3mp/","section":"Servers","summary":"","title":"TES3MP","type":"servers"},{"content":" Server Information # Expansion: Cataclysm\nClient: 4.3.4\nStatus: In Development\nThis server is currently under active development.\nProgress reports and eventual connection instructions will be published here.\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/servers/cataclysm/","section":"Servers","summary":"","title":"Cataclysm","type":"servers"},{"content":" Mists of Pandaria Preservation Project # Status: In Development\nHallumina\u0026rsquo;s Mists of Pandaria work is focused on preservation, research, and improving community server projects.\nMore development information will be published as the project progresses.\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/servers/mop/","section":"Servers","summary":"","title":"Mists of Pandaria","type":"servers"},{"content":"","date":"3 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/agentic-ai/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Agentic AI","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/","section":"Articles","summary":"","title":"Articles","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"3 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Categories","type":"categories"},{"content":"One of my favorite parts of building a homelab is finding hardware that the rest of the computer world has mostly moved on from and figuring out what it can still do.\nRight now, one of the more interesting parts of my lab is a cheap X99 motherboard paired with 64 GB of DDR3 ECC memory.\nIt isn\u0026rsquo;t new.\nIt isn\u0026rsquo;t particularly efficient compared with modern hardware.\nIt definitely isn\u0026rsquo;t something I would recommend for someone trying to build the fastest gaming PC possible.\nBut for a homelab?\nIt might be exactly what I need.\nWhy X99? # X99 sits in an interesting place in the used hardware market.\nThe platform was originally associated with Intel\u0026rsquo;s Haswell-E and Broadwell-E enthusiast processors, but there is also a huge ecosystem of inexpensive Chinese X99 motherboards built around used Intel Xeon E5 processors and recycled server chipsets.\nThat creates some strange but useful combinations.\nInstead of spending hundreds of dollars on a modern motherboard, CPU, and DDR5 memory, it is possible to assemble an X99 system using inexpensive components from the used and surplus market.\nThe real attraction for me isn\u0026rsquo;t necessarily CPU performance.\nIt is memory capacity.\n64 GB of ECC Memory Without Spending Much Money # My current X99 system has 64 GB of ECC DDR3 memory installed.\nThat is where this platform starts becoming really interesting.\nServer memory from this generation can be remarkably inexpensive because huge quantities of it were removed from enterprise servers during hardware refresh cycles.\nFor gaming computers, ECC registered memory is generally not useful.\nFor servers, virtualization, containers, databases, and experimentation?\nIt can be perfect.\nMy homelab doesn\u0026rsquo;t necessarily need extremely fast memory. What I care about more is having enough memory to run several services simultaneously without constantly worrying about running out of RAM.\nThat makes 64 GB a very comfortable starting point.\nAnd if the motherboard, CPU, and DIMMs cooperate, these older Xeon platforms can sometimes support considerably more.\nThe Future Workhorse of the Lab # I have several smaller computers that will eventually make up the low-power side of my lab, including Lenovo Tiny systems and other inexpensive office PCs.\nThose machines make sense for lightweight services that can run continuously without consuming much electricity.\nThe X99 system has a different role.\nThis is going to be the workhorse.\nInstead of worrying about making it extremely power efficient, I want this machine available when I need more cores, more memory, or hardware that simply doesn\u0026rsquo;t fit into one of the Tiny PCs.\nI can imagine it eventually handling combinations of:\nDocker containers Virtual machines Development environments Databases Game server infrastructure Build jobs Experimental services Security tools Local AI workloads The smaller machines can handle the boring 24/7 jobs.\nThe X99 server can handle the heavy lifting.\nThe Tesla P100 Experiment # Another possibility is installing a **Tesla P100\n","date":"3 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/cheap-x99-workhorse/","section":"Articles","summary":"","title":"Cheap X99: Building a 64GB ECC Workhorse on a Budget","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"3 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/ecc/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"ECC","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/homelab/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Homelab","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"3 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/homelab/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Homelab","type":"tags"},{"content":" What is Hallumina? # Hallumina is a personal technology and security project focused on building, documenting, and experimenting with infrastructure.\nSecurity Security engineering, defensive tooling, research, configuration guides, and lessons learned from real-world projects. Security \u0026amp; News Homelab Self-hosted infrastructure, Linux servers, networking, virtualization, monitoring, and cloud-connected systems. View Projects Game Servers Classic multiplayer servers, preservation projects, custom development, and community-hosted gaming. View Servers Current Projects # Hallumina currently includes classic World of Warcraft server development, TES3MP hosting, homelab infrastructure, cloud edge services, and security engineering experiments.\nBuilt on a budget: Hallumina is hosted on an Oracle Cloud Always Free Ampere A1 instance with 2 ARM OCPUs and 12 GB of RAM — currently running the website, edge services, and monitoring for $0/month.\n","date":"3 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/","section":"Security, infrastructure, and digital preservation.","summary":"","title":"Security, infrastructure, and digital preservation.","type":"page"},{"content":"","date":"3 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/server/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Server","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tags","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/tesla-p100/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tesla P100","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/x99/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"X99","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/xeon/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Xeon","type":"tags"},{"content":"One of my current homelab projects is less about building the fastest server possible and more about figuring out just how much useful infrastructure I can build from inexpensive, low-power, and sometimes completely free hardware.\nRather than buying a large rack server and feeding it several hundred watts around the clock, I have been collecting small systems that might otherwise be overlooked.\nRight now, the lab consists of:\nFour Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tiny PCs One HP ProDesk 600 G1 One mATX X99 DDR3 system Two older laptops that I received for free One used LGA 1155 desktop that I also received for free Some of these machines are more capable than others, and not all of them may ultimately earn a permanent place in the cluster.\nThat\u0026rsquo;s part of the project.\nThe first step is simply testing everything.\nThe Goal: Make Old Hardware Useful Again # My goal isn\u0026rsquo;t to create a traditional enterprise cluster using identical servers.\nIn fact, almost the opposite.\nI want to find out how effectively I can combine cheap, used hardware into a useful little Proxmox environment while keeping power consumption, cost, heat, and noise relatively low.\nThe Lenovo M73 Tiny systems are particularly interesting for this.\nThey are small enough that several of them can fit into the space occupied by a normal desktop computer, use inexpensive DDR3 memory, and support Haswell-era CPUs that are still perfectly capable of running lightweight server workloads.\nFour of them together start becoming much more interesting than any one machine individually.\nInstead of asking:\nHow powerful is this old Tiny PC?\nThe better question becomes:\nWhat can four or five of these machines accomplish together?\nThat is what I want to explore.\nFour Lenovo M73 Tiny Nodes # The heart of the experiment will likely be my four Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tiny PCs.\nThese are older one-liter business desktops built around Intel\u0026rsquo;s LGA 1150 generation.\nThey aren\u0026rsquo;t particularly exciting as modern desktop computers, but that isn\u0026rsquo;t what I need them to be.\nFor a homelab, they have several things going for them:\nLow idle power consumption Small physical footprint Cheap DDR3 memory Inexpensive replacement parts Gigabit Ethernet Support for capable four-core Haswell processors Enough performance for lightweight virtual machines and containers I\u0026rsquo;m currently testing all four systems and determining exactly what hardware each one contains.\nI\u0026rsquo;ll also be experimenting with CPU and memory upgrades where they make financial sense.\nThe important part of this project is value.\nThere isn\u0026rsquo;t much reason to put an expensive processor into a computer that was purchased cheaply if a $10 or $20 CPU will accomplish the same server workload.\nI want to find the point where inexpensive hardware stops being merely old hardware and starts becoming genuinely useful infrastructure.\nThe HP ProDesk 600 G1 # Alongside the Lenovo machines is an HP ProDesk 600 G1.\nIt comes from roughly the same hardware generation, which makes it a useful addition to the project.\nOne of the things I like about using older enterprise desktops is how much hardware was produced during this period. Lenovo, HP, and Dell sold enormous numbers of Haswell-era business PCs.\nThat means CPUs, memory, power supplies, adapters, and replacement systems remain readily available on the used market.\nThe HP doesn\u0026rsquo;t have to be identical to the Lenovo nodes to participate in the lab.\nProxmox makes it possible to manage different hardware configurations as part of the same cluster, allowing the ProDesk to become another compute node with its own capabilities and limitations.\nThat heterogeneous nature is something I actually want to embrace.\nThe X99 DDR3 Machine # I also have an mATX X99 system using DDR3 memory.\nThis machine is considerably different from the Tiny PCs.\nWhere the M73s are focused on efficiency and small workloads, the X99 platform gives me access to inexpensive Xeon processors with much higher core counts and significantly more memory capacity.\nThat makes it a natural candidate for workloads that don\u0026rsquo;t fit particularly well on the smaller machines.\nThe Tiny PCs might handle several small infrastructure services while the X99 system handles a larger virtual machine, game server, database, compilation job, or other CPU- and memory-heavy workload.\nThat creates an interesting cluster design.\nInstead of several identical servers, I can potentially have a group of small efficiency-focused nodes surrounding one larger compute node.\nIn other words, the X99 machine can become the heavyweight of the mini lab.\nThen There Are the Free Computers # Some of the most interesting machines in the project cost me nothing.\nI currently have two older laptops and an LGA 1155 desktop that I received for free.\nI haven\u0026rsquo;t decided exactly what each one will do yet.\nAnd that\u0026rsquo;s part of the fun.\nOld computers are frequently considered useless simply because they no longer make particularly good modern desktop computers.\nServer workloads are different.\nA machine doesn\u0026rsquo;t need to run a modern desktop environment, dozens of browser tabs, office applications, and a pile of background processes just to be useful.\nTake away the graphical desktop and suddenly an older computer has considerably more resources available for doing actual work.\nA second- or third-generation Intel Core system may be unimpressive as a daily-use desktop in 2026, but it can still be perfectly capable of running:\nDNS Monitoring Web services Databases Automation tools Docker containers Development utilities Small game servers The laptops are particularly interesting because they effectively come with their own monitor, keyboard, and miniature UPS.\nA battery that might be annoying in a normal daily-use laptop can actually become useful in a homelab because it can provide some protection against brief interruptions in power.\nWhether all of these systems become permanent cluster nodes remains to be seen.\nFor now, the goal is to test them and figure out where they are useful.\nProxmox Will Tie Everything Together # The long-term plan is to turn the useful systems into a Proxmox VE cluster.\nProxmox gives me a centralized management interface for a collection of otherwise very different computers.\nInstead of treating every machine as its own isolated server, I can manage the lab as a group of compute resources.\nFrom a browser, I\u0026rsquo;ll be able to manage:\nProxmox nodes Virtual machines Containers Storage Backups Resource utilization Networking Cluster health The cluster doesn\u0026rsquo;t magically combine every CPU and stick of RAM into one giant computer.\nEach workload still runs on an individual physical host.\nWhat Proxmox provides is the management and virtualization layer that makes those machines much easier to organize.\nIf one M73 has spare capacity, I can give it another workload.\nIf something needs considerably more memory or CPU cores, it might belong on the X99 system instead.\nThat flexibility is exactly what I want.\nUbuntu Server Without a GUI # Most of the actual services inside the cluster will run on Ubuntu Server without a graphical interface.\nThere is very little reason for my server workloads to waste memory and CPU cycles rendering a desktop nobody is going to look at.\nMy general architecture will look something like this:\nPhysical Hardware │ ▼ Proxmox VE │ ▼ Ubuntu Server VM (No GUI) │ ▼ Docker │ ▼ Applications / Services Each layer serves a different purpose.\nProxmox manages the physical infrastructure and virtual machines.\nUbuntu Server provides a familiar, lightweight Linux environment.\nDocker packages and separates many of the individual applications.\nI also like this architecture because it makes experimentation much safer.\nInstead of installing dozens of applications directly onto the Proxmox hosts, I can keep the hypervisors relatively clean.\nThe services live inside Ubuntu Server systems, and Docker further separates many of those applications.\nIf I break something while experimenting, I would much rather break a disposable VM or Docker container than the underlying hypervisor.\nDocker All the Things\u0026hellip; Within Reason # Docker is going to play a major role in this lab.\nA surprising number of homelab applications can run comfortably inside containers with very little overhead.\nPotential workloads include:\nMonitoring tools Web applications Reverse proxies Dashboards Databases Automation services Development environments Game-server-related infrastructure Management utilities Not every application needs its own physical computer.\nIt doesn\u0026rsquo;t even necessarily need its own virtual machine.\nSeveral smaller Docker containers can coexist comfortably inside a modest Ubuntu Server VM.\nThat is where the Tiny PCs become particularly useful.\nAn M73 doesn\u0026rsquo;t need to replace an enterprise server.\nIt just needs enough resources to reliably host a handful of useful services.\nMultiply that by four machines and the available capacity starts adding up.\nBuilding Around Failure # One thing I want to keep in mind while building this lab is that this is old hardware.\nSome of it is more than a decade old.\nEventually, something will fail.\nThat isn\u0026rsquo;t necessarily a reason not to use it.\nIn some ways, it makes the project more interesting.\nIf an inexpensive Tiny PC dies, replacing the entire node may cost less than replacing a component in a modern server.\nA cluster also gives me an opportunity to design services so that the failure of one physical computer doesn\u0026rsquo;t have to be catastrophic.\nBackups, configuration documentation, virtualization, containers, and eventually some level of workload redundancy can make the individual physical computer much less important.\nThe hardware becomes replaceable.\nThe services are what matter.\nThat is a philosophy I want this lab to gradually move toward.\nPerformance Per Dollar — and Per Watt # I spend a lot of time looking at old Xeons, used business desktops, DDR3 memory, and inexpensive enterprise hardware.\nThere is a tremendous amount of perfectly functional computing hardware available for very little money.\nThe challenge is deciding where the price-to-performance curve actually makes sense.\nA high-core-count Xeon sounds great until the server consumes a large amount of electricity while doing almost nothing.\nA Tiny PC with a low-power processor may not sound particularly exciting until you realize it can quietly run several services while consuming very little electricity.\nFor a machine that might eventually run 24 hours a day, idle power consumption matters.\nThat\u0026rsquo;s another reason I\u0026rsquo;m interested in building the lab around several small systems rather than relying exclusively on large servers.\nIt also creates the possibility of powering down compute nodes when they aren\u0026rsquo;t required.\nIf three machines can handle the normal workload, there isn\u0026rsquo;t much reason for six machines to consume electricity just because they exist.\nWhat I Want to Learn # There are easier ways to build a homelab.\nI could buy one modern server with a large amount of RAM, install Proxmox, and call it a day.\nBut that would skip much of what makes this project interesting to me.\nI want to experiment with clustering.\nI want to learn more about moving workloads between systems.\nI want to experiment with storage.\nI want to improve monitoring.\nI want to see which services benefit from dedicated virtual machines and which are perfectly happy inside Docker.\nI want to see how far inexpensive hardware can actually be pushed.\nAnd I want to find useful jobs for computers that might otherwise end up sitting in a closet or becoming electronic waste.\nThe Current Phase: Test Everything # Right now, I\u0026rsquo;m still at the beginning.\nBefore designing the final cluster, I need to inventory and test the hardware.\nThat means checking things like:\nCPU model RAM capacity Storage BIOS versions Network adapters Power consumption Temperatures Stability Upgrade options Some systems will probably receive additional RAM.\nSome may receive inexpensive CPU upgrades.\nA few may turn out not to be worth using at all.\nOnce I know exactly what I\u0026rsquo;m working with, I can begin assigning roles and building the Proxmox cluster.\nFrom there, I\u0026rsquo;ll start deploying the Ubuntu Server VMs and Docker workloads that will actually turn this collection of old PCs into a functioning homelab.\nA Cluster Built from What I Already Have # There is something appealing about building infrastructure this way.\nThis isn\u0026rsquo;t a lab assembled from a shopping list of ideal hardware.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s being built around hardware I already own, hardware I found cheaply, and machines that other people no longer had a use for.\nFour Lenovo Tiny PCs.\nAn HP business desktop.\nAn X99 Xeon system.\nTwo old laptops.\nAn LGA 1155 desktop.\nIndividually, none of them are especially remarkable.\nTogether, they might become a surprisingly capable little cluster.\nFinding out exactly what I can build with them is the point of the project.\nThis is the beginning of my mini-lab build. I\u0026rsquo;ll update Hallumina with the hardware specifications, upgrades, power consumption, Proxmox configuration, and eventual workloads as I test and deploy each machine.\n","date":"30 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/building-a-mini-proxmox-lab/","section":"Articles","summary":"","title":"Building a Mini Proxmox Lab from Cheap and Free Hardware","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"30 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/docker/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Docker","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"30 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/linux/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Linux","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"30 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/mini-pcs/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Mini PCs","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"30 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/proxmox/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Proxmox","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"30 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/self-hosting/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Self-Hosting","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"30 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/ubuntu/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Ubuntu","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"28 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/guides/","section":"Connection Guides","summary":"","title":"Connection Guides","type":"guides"},{"content":"","date":"24 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/announcement/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Announcement","type":"tags"},{"content":"Hallumina is now online.\nThis site will serve as the central home for our game servers, homelab projects, security news, connection guides, development updates, and service status.\nCurrent projects include Wrath of the Lich King, TES3MP, Cataclysm, homelab infrastructure, and security engineering experiments.\n","date":"24 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/welcome/","section":"Articles","summary":"","title":"Welcome to Hallumina","type":"posts"},{"content":"Hallumina is a homelab and technology project focused on self-hosting, game server preservation, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and experimentation.\nCurrent projects include classic World of Warcraft servers, TES3MP, homelab infrastructure, security engineering experiments, and software development.\nThis site serves as a central location for project documentation, connection guides, development updates, security news, and server status.\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/about/","section":"Security, infrastructure, and digital preservation.","summary":"","title":"About","type":"page"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Authors","type":"authors"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/development/","section":"Development","summary":"","title":"Development","type":"development"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Series","type":"series"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/servers/","section":"Servers","summary":"","title":"Servers","type":"servers"}]