Most of what I know about servers, networking, and storage didn’t come from certification material. It came from breaking my own stuff at home.
A small home lab—physical or virtual—lets you:
- Try weird ideas without a change window
- Practice installs, upgrades, and migrations safely
- Build muscle memory for basic troubleshooting
- Document your own patterns and “golden configs”
You don’t need a rack in the garage to start. A single decent box or even a few VMs is enough. The important part is having a place where failure is cheap and curiosity is allowed.