Success Story
When longtime IT professional, Patrick Fortin-Ducharme discovered the HL15 home lab server from 45HomeLab, he saw more than a storage solution; he found the reliable, enterprise-grade hardware he'd been chasing for years.
Patrick Fortin-Ducharme
Team Lead, Shared Services Canada
With over two decades of experience in enterprise IT and a growing consulting business on the side, Patrick needed a home lab NAS that could handle both critical workloads and personal experiments. And after years of frustration with DIY systems and unreliable secondhand gear, he found his answer in the HL15.
Patrick works as a team lead at Shared Services Canada, managing server infrastructure across Quebec and New Brunswick for various government departments. Outside of work, he helps small businesses design and manage their IT systems, including off-site backup servers, secure networking, and virtualization.
"I had a converted aluminum tower with 5.25" cages it was always finicky. Cables would slip, drives would fail. It was a risky setup for something my clients relied on."
He wanted an enterprise-grade NAS solution, but most were out of reach financially until the HL15 launched.
When Patrick came across 45HomeLab, the timing was perfect. "I had followed 45Drives for years," he explains. "But when they launched their home lab product line and released the HL15, I finally had access to enterprise-quality hardware. And the fact that it's a North American-made server chassis? That made it even better."
Patrick runs Unraid on his HL15 servers, and to showcase his setup, 45HomeLab worked with Unraid to create a custom front plate crafted specifically for his system.
Patrick's current home lab setup is clean, professional, and purpose-built. His HL15 is rack-mounted with Ubiquiti networking gear and runs UnraidOS loaded with Docker containers and VMs. His setup powers:
This backup server for small businesses protects his clients with daily differentials and nightly offsite syncs. "It just works," Patrick says. "I don't worry about hardware anymore."
"The HL15 is built like a tank. I know it'll last for years. I've already upgraded the power supply for GPU support, and it's handled everything I throw at it."
He recently purchased a second HL15 for client-only workloads using ZFS—a testament to the modular, scalable design of the HL15.
Would Patrick recommend the HL15? "Absolutely. I think it's the best home lab chassis on the market right now," he says. "It's not the cheapest, but it's built to last. You're paying for peace of mind and serious performance."
Join Patrick and hundreds of other IT professionals who've discovered the perfect balance of enterprise reliability and home lab flexibility with the HL15.
