# PDR 000: Keep active home-lab hardware quiet and role-driven

- HTML version: https://robbiepalmer.me/projects/homelab/pdrs/000-keep-active-home-lab-hardware-quiet-and-role-driven
- Project: Home Lab
- Status: Accepted
- Opened: 2026-10-31
- Decided: 2026-10-31

## Context

The lab has grown from a Mac mini and Raspberry Pi into several computers,
phones, powered disks, and their cables. Some devices need a particular
location. The Pi must connect to the upstairs printer, the Mac must connect to
the iPhone for iOS work, and the Vector currently needs wired Ethernet beside
the downstairs router for remote wake and unlock.

Physical reuse is no longer enough to justify an active machine. The Asus
desktop has remained too large, noisy, and slow to earn a workload. Its 16 GB
of memory and 1 TB disk are useful components, but the Vector has taken its
development and GPU jobs. There is no remaining need for the desktop's CUDA 12
compatibility. Rehousing it would spend money without fixing its old processor,
graphics limit, or maintenance burden.

Noise also changes whether a technically capable device belongs in a shared
room. The Vector's fan is already intrusive in the living room. A cabinet that
adds another computer and ventilation fans would make that problem worse.

## Decision

Keep a computer in the active home lab only while it has a distinct current
job that the other machines do not cover well. Fit its placement to the
physical dependency that gives it that job. Temporary placement may tolerate
clutter while a network or mounting constraint remains unresolved, but it must
not become a reason to add idle hardware permanently.

Treat noise, size, ventilation, cabling, and power as product requirements for
hardware used in shared rooms. Do not buy a cabinet or cooling equipment to
hide a machine whose workload does not justify running it. A new computer must
solve an observed capacity or availability problem and must have an agreed
location before purchase.

Retire the Asus desktop from the active fleet instead of rehousing it. Keep it
powered only long enough to inspect the disks, copy any needed data, and prove
that retirement is safe. Reuse a component only when it has a named next job.
Sanitise every drive before it leaves custody. Destroy a drive when verified
sanitisation is not possible.
Sell, donate, or recycle the remaining working parts rather than preserving an
indefinite parts pile.

For the present layout:

* keep the Vector beside the router while wired remote wake and unlock require
  that connection;
* keep the quiet Mac mini, iPhone, and 10 TB disk together in the study;
* mount the Raspberry Pi beside the printer it serves; and
* keep the old desktop out of the permanent layout.

## Consequences

The lab gives up 16 GB of fallback memory, the GTX 1050, and a nominal second
local compute tower. Those resources had no current workload. Retirement also
removes a pinned end-of-life NixOS and CUDA configuration from the active
maintenance burden.

The Vector becomes the only local CUDA-capable development node. Its temporary
living-room placement still has a noise cost, so a later network change may
move it to the study without changing this policy.

The 120 GB SSD may become Raspberry Pi storage or a recovery disk. The 1 TB
hard disk may hold replaceable data or an additional offline copy. Neither disk
has an accepted role until SMART data and self-tests show its condition. Old,
mismatched disks will not become the basis of a new RAID array.

## Evaluation

Review the policy when an active machine lacks a named workload, a shared room
gains persistent fan noise, or a proposed purchase has no agreed placement.
Successful retirement leaves no unique data on the Asus desktop and no
dependency that requires it to remain powered.

## Related records

- Project: [Home Lab](https://robbiepalmer.me/projects/homelab.md)
- Informed by ADR: [ADR 007: NixOS GPU worker](https://robbiepalmer.me/projects/homelab/adrs/007-nixos-gpu-worker.md)
- Informed by ADR: [ADR 025: Graphical NixOS development workstation on the Vector laptop](https://robbiepalmer.me/projects/homelab/adrs/025-graphical-nixos-development-workstation.md)
- Informed by ADR: [ADR 026: Vault-assisted remote boot for the Vector laptop](https://robbiepalmer.me/projects/homelab/adrs/026-vault-assisted-vector-remote-boot.md)
- Implemented by ADR: [ADR 027: Retire the legacy NixOS GPU worker](https://robbiepalmer.me/projects/homelab/adrs/027-retire-legacy-nixos-gpu-worker.md)

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