💡 Are you a network engineer looking to take your skills to the next level? In this video, I’ll show you how to build your very first virtual home lab using Proxmox, all for under $100. I’ll share how setting up my own lab completely changed my career — from working in food service with no degree to becoming a Sr Systems Engineer for a OEM, working with America's largest service providers. Then we’ll walk step-by-step through standing up your first virtual environment and spinning up an Ubuntu VM. 🔧 What You’ll Learn: • Why every network engineer should have a home lab • The minimal hardware you need (budget build under $100) • How to install and configure Proxmox • Creating and running your first Ubuntu VM 🚀 By the end of this video, you’ll have your own virtual lab ready to explore routing, firewalls, automation, and security testing — the same hands-on practice that accelerated my IT career. — 🎓 This is Part 1 of my Proxmox Lab Series: • Part 1: Build Your First Virtual Lab (this video) • Part 2: Configure pfSense & Kali Linux, VLANs & Routing • Part 3: Real-World Network & Security Scenarios 👇 Subscribe to follow along, and comment below what you’d like to test in your lab next! #NetworkEngineer #Proxmox #HomeLab #ITCareer #Cybersecurity #virtuallabs Chapters: 00:00 How A Lab Has Helped My Career 01:01 What We Will Cover 01:35 Hardware & Software Requirements 03:04 Doesn't Have To Be Perfect 03:31 Proxmox Installation 05:06 Fixing "Input Signal Out of Range" Error Proxmox Grub 07:00 Fixing Licensing Errors in Proxmox 08:58 Onboarding our first VM (Ubuntu) 11:25 Configuring Ubuntu 14:00 Outro