stabbi Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Hey guys, I'm currently managing out my Hard drives and USB sticks I have lying around here. I have the following setup: MSI GT70 (gaming laptop) Lenovo X201 128GB SSD (Samsung) 1TB HDD 750GB HDD 2x 500GB HDD 2x 16GB USB 3.0 stick 2x 1GB USB 2.0 stick 4x 8GB USB 2.0 stick So, how would you setup a lab with this stuff? I can't think of a right way currently and struggle hard. My bigger laptop I would like to use with the SSD, since it is my main rig and the more powerful one. Maybe install a mainstream distro on it and a couple of VMs for pentesting, researching etc. Maybe even Ubuntu or mint or something. At least something with a good Optimus support, since I know Linux with hybrid graphics can be a pain and can make a lot of headaches. Or maybe even use windows on it with some Linux VMs? Because of the driver support? On the smaller one I would like to install something lightweight, arch with xfce? USB sticks? Hard drives? Not sure. I appreciate any suggestion. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b0N3z Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 What form factor are the HDD's? keep the usb sticks free, I find myself making live usb and keep them handy at all times, you can make some discrete storage devices with usb sticks and hubs and small cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stabbi Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share Posted February 7, 2016 The HDD's are 2.5". Was thinking about to put Kali at at least one of the 3.0 stick. I dont like it to have it as a main OS :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b0N3z Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 how many hdd does each laptop hold? The HDD's are 2.5". Was thinking about to put Kali at at least one of the 3.0 stick. I dont like it to have it as a main OS :/ Kali isn't really that great of a daily driver in my opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stabbi Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share Posted February 7, 2016 Basically, the SSD is in my main Laptop, with the 750GB. On the lenovo I have 1 of the 500GB ones. So, having plenty of space left, I was also thinking about to put the SSD into the lenovo, to make it faster at least, when I'm traveling. Indeed, thats why i would put kali on a USB stick at least, with encrypted persistence maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b0N3z Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 (edited) Basically, the SSD is in my main Laptop, with the 750GB. On the lenovo I have 1 of the 500GB ones. So, having plenty of space left, I was also thinking about to put the SSD into the lenovo, to make it faster at least, when I'm traveling. Indeed, thats why i would put kali on a USB stick at least, with encrypted persistence maybe. Personally, I would keep the ssd in the gt70 unless you use the other laptop more, also if you are going to use the ssd for linux as of now and i could be mistaken but trim support is default for intel and samsung ssd only in Ubuntu and many variations of Ubuntu (i.e. Mint). You might be able to find a way to get trim on other ssd's but I have not looked that up as I have an intel ssd and trim is working just fine. I would keep the 750 in your main for mass storage and use the other 500gb for a system backup for the main system and or windows on the main rig, use the 1t as an external mass storage and or even a backup so you can use it on either machine. amazon has pretty good deals on external cases for hdd, I put my sisters 500gb hdd from her mac in a $20 case and it works great, just plug the usb in and all the power runs through that. I put a 120ssd in her mac to make it faster and she backs everything up on the ext hdd Edited February 7, 2016 by b0N3z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooper Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 When setting up hardware for a lab, the storage is typically the less-relevant of your concerns. The biggie tends to be memory when you want to be running several VMs. You can set up some of that SSD storage as a swap space to compensate lack of RAM. Going with disk storage for this will tank your performance to a massive degree. You can use a few of the USB sticks for playing with things like TAILS or other live distros, but you're then dedicating one entire machine to running that OS which would be somewhat inefficient for your lab. You could get your VM to boot off of that USB drive, but why even go with this cumbersome route when you should have ample diskspace for pretty much anything. Maybe you should take a slightly closer look at what you want to do with your lab, discover what you actually need for that and focus on this. Spare hardware on a shelf can be quite a comforting thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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