Build your dream home lab
Hardware reviews, setup guides, and practical tips for building and running a home lab. From your first server to a full rack.
Backup Testing and Recovery Drills for Your Homelab
Learn how to verify your homelab backups actually work with automated restore testing, checksumming, scheduled drills, and documented recovery procedures.
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Practical Btrfs Snapshots for Homelab Backups and Rollbacks
Use Btrfs snapshots to protect your homelab data. Covers subvolume layout, manual and automated snapshots with snapper, boot rollbacks, incremental offsite backups with btrfs send, and common pitfalls.
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NVMe vs SATA SSDs for Your Homelab: A Practical Comparison
When does NVMe actually matter over SATA in a homelab? Real benchmarks and practical guidance for VM storage, containers, NAS builds, and database workloads.
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Self-Hosted Container Registry with Harbor
Deploy Harbor as a private container registry in your homelab. Covers installation, Trivy vulnerability scanning, replication, RBAC, and CI/CD integration.
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Homelab Immutable Infrastructure with NixOS
Use NixOS to build reproducible, declarative homelab server configurations. Covers Nix flakes, declarative service definitions, system rollbacks, remote deployment with deploy-rs, and managing a fleet of NixOS machines.
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Homelab Firewall Rules Best Practices
Learn how to design firewall rules for a segmented homelab network. Covers default deny policies, VLAN-based zone design, logging strategies, and common rule patterns for LAN, DMZ, IoT, and management networks.
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Incus for Your Homelab: System Containers and VMs Without the Drama
Getting started with Incus, the community-driven LXD fork, for running system containers and virtual machines in your homelab. Installation, networking, storage, and practical migration tips.
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Setting Up Frigate NVR in Your Homelab for Smart Camera Monitoring
Deploy Frigate NVR in your homelab with Docker Compose, Coral TPU acceleration, RTSP cameras, zones, masks, and Home Assistant integration.
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Setting Up CrowdSec in Your Homelab: Community-Powered Intrusion Prevention
Deploy CrowdSec in your homelab for real-time intrusion detection and prevention. Covers installation, bouncer setup, custom scenarios, and integration with Traefik, Nginx, and firewalls.
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Homelab ZFS on Linux Complete Guide
A comprehensive guide to running ZFS on Linux in your homelab. Covers installation on Debian and Ubuntu, pool creation, datasets, compression, scrubs, snapshots, and send/receive replication for backups.
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MQTT for IoT and Home Automation in Your Homelab
Set up an MQTT broker with Mosquitto for IoT devices and home automation. Covers installation, security, Home Assistant integration, and sensor data.
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PostgreSQL Replication and High Availability in Your Homelab
Set up PostgreSQL streaming replication, Patroni for automatic failover, and pgBouncer for connection pooling. A practical guide to HA Postgres in your homelab.
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MergerFS + SnapRAID: Flexible Union Storage for Your Homelab
Build a flexible, expandable storage pool with MergerFS and SnapRAID. Mix-and-match drives with parity protection for homelab media and backups.
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Zigbee2MQTT: Connect Zigbee Devices Without Vendor Lock-In
Set up Zigbee2MQTT in your homelab with Docker, pair Zigbee devices, configure MQTT topics, and integrate with Home Assistant.
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Building a Homelab on ARM64: Raspberry Pi 5, Orange Pi, and Beyond
A practical guide to building an ARM64 homelab with Raspberry Pi 5, Orange Pi 5, ROCK 5B, and other SBCs — OS choices, Docker, clustering, and power efficiency.
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Running Unbound as a Recursive DNS Resolver in Your Homelab
Set up Unbound as a recursive DNS resolver in Docker, configure DNSSEC validation, and integrate with Pi-hole or AdGuard Home.
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Time Series Data with InfluxDB in Your Homelab
Set up InfluxDB 2.x in your homelab for time series monitoring — Telegraf agents, Flux queries, retention policies, dashboards, and IoT data collection.
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Smart PDU and Per-Device Power Monitoring for Your Homelab
Monitor per-device power consumption in your homelab using smart PDUs, SNMP, APIs, Grafana dashboards, and cost optimization strategies.
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Dual WAN Failover for Your Homelab: Automatic Internet Redundancy
Set up dual WAN with automatic failover for your homelab using pfSense, OPNsense, or Linux. Keep services online when your ISP goes down.
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Homelab Prometheus and Node Exporter Setup
Deploy Prometheus and node_exporter across your homelab for comprehensive infrastructure monitoring. Covers native installation, PromQL fundamentals, recording rules, alerting rules, and storage retention management.
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Running Rootless Containers with Podman in Your Homelab
A practical guide to running rootless Podman containers in your homelab with systemd integration, networking, and migration from Docker.
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Network Flow Monitoring with ntopng and NetFlow
Set up network flow monitoring in your homelab with ntopng, NetFlow, and sFlow. Covers switch configuration, traffic analysis, alerting, and bandwidth forensics.
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Self-Hosted Secret Management with HashiCorp Vault
Deploy HashiCorp Vault in your homelab for centralized secret management. Covers Docker setup, KV secrets, PKI certificates, AppRole auth, and service integration.
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Using dnsmasq for Homelab DNS and DHCP
Set up dnsmasq as a lightweight DNS and DHCP server for your homelab. Covers local DNS resolution, static leases, split-horizon DNS, and integration with Pi-hole and existing routers.
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Intel N100 Mini PC Builds: The Best Value Homelab Servers in 2026
Build a homelab around Intel N100 mini PCs with recommended models, benchmarks, RAM and storage tips, and use cases from Proxmox to NAS.
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Homelab 2.5GbE Networking Upgrade Guide
Upgrade your homelab from gigabit to 2.5GbE networking. Covers switch recommendations, NIC options, USB adapters, cable requirements, driver considerations, and real-world throughput benchmarks.
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Building a Self-Hosted VPN Gateway for Your Homelab
Build a dedicated VPN gateway server for your homelab with WireGuard. Route traffic, enforce policies, and provide secure remote access from one box.
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PXE and Network Booting: Automated OS Installs for Your Home Lab
Set up PXE network booting for automated OS installs in your homelab. Covers netboot.xyz, iPXE, DHCP configuration, and diskless thin client setups.
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Uptime Monitoring for Home Labs: Uptime Kuma, Gatus, and Statping-ng
Set up self-hosted uptime monitoring to track service availability, response times, and get instant alerts when something goes down in your home lab.
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IPMI and BMC Remote Management for Your Home Lab
Master out-of-band server management with IPMI, iDRAC, and iLO. Covers serial-over-LAN, virtual media, fan control, alerting, and security best practices for homelab hardware.
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Kubernetes in Your Homelab: K3s and K0s Setup Guide
A practical guide to running lightweight Kubernetes in your homelab with K3s and K0s — when to use it over Docker Compose, cluster setup, essential tools, and real-world deployment patterns.
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PCIe Cards for Your Home Lab: HBAs, NICs, and Expansion
A practical guide to PCIe cards for homelabs — HBA controllers, 10GbE NICs, NVMe expansion, SAS expanders, bifurcation, and compatibility pitfalls to avoid.
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Homelab VPN Deep Dive: OpenVPN vs WireGuard vs IPSec
Compare OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IPSec/IKEv2 for homelab remote access. Includes performance benchmarks, configuration complexity, mobile client support, and site-to-site tunnel setups.
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Running an SMTP Relay for Home Lab Notifications
Set up an SMTP relay to get email notifications from all your homelab services. Covers Postfix, msmtp, and Mailrise for routing alerts to email, Discord, and Slack.
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Self-Hosted Email: Running Mailcow and Mail-in-a-Box in Your Homelab
Set up a self-hosted email server with Mailcow or Mail-in-a-Box. Covers DNS records, TLS certificates, spam filtering, DKIM/SPF/DMARC, and the reality of deliverability challenges.
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Offsite Backup Strategies for Your Home Lab
Protect your homelab data with offsite backups. Covers Backblaze B2, rsync.net, Hetzner Storage Box, and self-hosted remote options with encryption, scheduling, and cost comparison.
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Self-Hosted Wikis: BookStack, Wiki.js, and Outline for Homelab Documentation
Deploy a self-hosted wiki or knowledge base to document your homelab. Compares BookStack, Wiki.js, and Outline with deployment guides, backup strategies, and team collaboration features.
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Automated Updates for Your Home Lab: A Complete Strategy
Set up unattended OS updates, Docker container updates, and dependency management for your homelab. Covers unattended-upgrades, dnf-automatic, Watchtower, and reboot policies.
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Ubuntu Server Initial Setup: Security Hardening for Home Labs
A step-by-step guide to securing a fresh Ubuntu Server installation — SSH key authentication, firewall setup, fail2ban, unattended upgrades, and essential hardening.
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Automating Your Home Lab with Ansible
A practical introduction to using Ansible for home lab automation. Covers inventory setup, writing playbooks, using roles, and real examples for common homelab tasks like updates, Docker deployments, and system configuration.
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Building a Dedicated NAS for Your Home Lab
A practical guide to building a purpose-built NAS for your homelab — cases, CPUs, HBA cards, drive selection, and choosing between TrueNAS, Unraid, and OpenMediaVault.
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Centralized Log Aggregation: ELK, Graylog, Vector, and Syslog-ng
Collect and search logs from all your homelab services in one place. Covers ELK stack, Graylog, Vector, and syslog-ng with deployment guides, pipeline configs, and resource comparisons.
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GPU Passthrough in Proxmox: Gaming, AI, and Transcoding in VMs
A step-by-step guide to GPU passthrough in Proxmox VMs — IOMMU configuration, VFIO setup, troubleshooting common issues, and practical use cases for gaming, AI workloads, and media transcoding.
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Proxmox VE Clustering for High Availability
Set up a Proxmox VE cluster with high availability for your homelab. Covers cluster creation, joining nodes, fencing, HA groups, shared storage requirements, and live migration of VMs and containers.
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Wake-on-LAN for Home Labs: Start Servers Remotely
Configure Wake-on-LAN to power on your home lab servers from anywhere — BIOS setup, Linux configuration, and tools for sending magic packets.
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Self-Hosted Productivity Apps: Nextcloud, BookStack, Vikunja, and Paperless-ngx
Deploy and configure the best self-hosted productivity apps for your homelab — file sync with Nextcloud, documentation with BookStack, task management with Vikunja, and document management with Paperless-ngx.
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Run Your Own DNS: Pi-hole vs AdGuard Home for Your Home Lab
A hands-on guide to running Pi-hole or AdGuard Home for network-wide ad blocking, local DNS, and privacy — with an honest comparison to help you choose.
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Load Balancing with HAProxy in Your Home Lab
Set up HAProxy as a load balancer and reverse proxy for your homelab services. Covers installation, frontend/backend configuration, health checks, SSL termination, and sticky sessions.
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Tailscale vs WireGuard: Which VPN for Your Home Lab?
A detailed comparison of Tailscale and raw WireGuard for home lab remote access — setup complexity, performance, features, and when to use each.
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Home Lab Power Consumption: How to Measure, Monitor, and Reduce
A practical guide to understanding, measuring, and optimizing power consumption in your home lab — from Kill-A-Watt meters to BIOS tweaks and hardware choices.
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Reverse Proxy Comparison: Traefik vs Caddy vs Nginx Proxy Manager
Compare Traefik, Caddy, and Nginx Proxy Manager for your home lab — automatic HTTPS, Docker integration, configuration approaches, and when to use each.
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UPS Systems for Your Home Lab: A Complete Guide
Everything you need to know about uninterruptible power supplies for home labs — sizing, brands, Linux monitoring with NUT, automated shutdowns, and battery care.
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SSL Certificate Management for Your Home Lab
A practical guide to managing SSL certificates in your homelab — Let's Encrypt with DNS challenges, internal CAs, wildcard certs, cert-manager, and automated renewal.
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Plex vs Jellyfin vs Emby: Choosing a Media Server for Your Homelab
A detailed comparison of Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby media servers — features, transcoding, client support, and integration with the arr stack for a complete homelab media setup.
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Self-Hosting Your Photos with Immich
How to set up Immich as a self-hosted Google Photos replacement. Covers Docker deployment, mobile backups, ML features, storage planning, and migrating from Google Photos.
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Home Lab SSD Buying Guide: SATA, NVMe, and Everything In Between
How to choose the right SSD for your home lab — SATA vs NVMe, TLC vs QLC, endurance ratings, enterprise vs consumer, and the best drives for boot, cache, and VM storage.
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Container Management Tools: Portainer vs Dockge vs Lazydocker vs CLI
Compare the most popular Docker container management tools for homelabs — Portainer, Dockge, Lazydocker, and plain CLI — with deployment guides, use cases, and practical advice on choosing the right tool.
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Remote Access for Your Home Lab: DDNS, Tunnels, and VPNs
A complete guide to accessing your home lab remotely — dynamic DNS, Cloudflare Tunnel, WireGuard, Tailscale, and the security trade-offs of each approach.
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Building a Quiet Home Lab: Noise Reduction Guide
Practical tips for building a home lab that won't drive you out of the room. Covers fan replacements, case selection, SFF builds, noise measurement, and the trade-offs between silence and cooling performance.
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TrueNAS SCALE Setup: From Install to First Share
A hands-on walkthrough of installing TrueNAS SCALE, creating your first ZFS storage pool, setting up SMB and NFS shares, and deploying apps. Everything you need to go from bare metal to working NAS.
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VLAN Segmentation: Isolating Your Home Lab Network
A practical guide to using VLANs to segment your home lab network — why VLANs matter, what hardware you need, and step-by-step setup with managed switches and pfSense/OPNsense.
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Self-Hosting Nextcloud: Your Own Cloud Storage Platform
Deploy Nextcloud as a self-hosted alternative to Google Drive and Dropbox. Covers Docker Compose installation, storage backends, performance tuning with Redis and OPcache, security hardening, backups, sync clients, and useful apps.
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Building a Media Server with Jellyfin: The Complete Guide
Set up a self-hosted media server with Jellyfin — installation, library organization, hardware transcoding, client apps, remote access, and how it compares to Plex.
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NFS vs SMB vs iSCSI: Choosing the Right Storage Protocol
A practical comparison of NFS, SMB, and iSCSI for homelab storage. Covers performance, compatibility, configuration complexity, and which protocol to use for VMs, containers, media, backups, and shared files.
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Configuring Prometheus Alertmanager for Home Lab Monitoring
Set up Alertmanager alongside Prometheus to get real alerts for your homelab — covering installation, routing, grouping, silencing, and integrations with Discord, email, and Telegram.
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Identity Management Beyond SSO: LDAP, Authentik, and Centralized User Management
Set up centralized identity management for your homelab with LDAP, lldap, FreeIPA, and Authentik. Covers directory services, user provisioning, and integrating authentication across all your services.
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BorgBackup for Home Lab Data Protection
A hands-on guide to BorgBackup for homelab backups — repository setup, encryption, compression, deduplication, automated scheduling with borgmatic, pruning, monitoring, and restoring files.
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Managing Your Home Lab with Terraform and Proxmox
A practical guide to infrastructure as code for home labs — define VMs, storage, and networking in Terraform using the Proxmox provider.
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Homelab Disaster Recovery: Planning, Testing, and Automation
Build a disaster recovery plan for your homelab. Covers backup verification, recovery time objectives, automated DR testing, documentation templates, and real-world recovery scenarios.
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Homelab Reverse Proxy Showdown: Nginx Proxy Manager vs Traefik vs Caddy vs HAProxy
A practical comparison of the four most popular reverse proxies for homelabs — Nginx Proxy Manager, Traefik, Caddy, and HAProxy — with deployment examples, performance notes, and guidance on which to choose.
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Paperless-ngx: Self-Hosted Document Management for Your Home Lab
Set up Paperless-ngx to digitize, organize, and search all your documents — from tax returns to receipts — with automatic OCR and smart tagging.
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Site-to-Site VPN with WireGuard Between Home Labs
Connect two homelab networks with a WireGuard site-to-site VPN. Covers configuration on both ends, routing between subnets, persistent connections, and firewall rules for transparent cross-site access.
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ext4 vs XFS vs Btrfs vs ZFS: Choosing a Linux Filesystem for Your Homelab
A practical comparison of the four major Linux filesystems for homelab use — ext4, XFS, Btrfs, and ZFS — covering performance, features, reliability, and when to use each one.
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Advanced Homelab Security: CrowdSec, Fail2ban, Network Segmentation, and Defense in Depth
Go beyond basic SSH hardening — deploy CrowdSec and Fail2ban for intrusion prevention, implement network segmentation with VLANs and firewall zones, and build a defense-in-depth security posture for your homelab.
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10 Useful Raspberry Pi Projects for Your Home Lab
Practical Raspberry Pi projects that actually earn their keep in a home lab. From network-wide ad blocking to monitoring dashboards, these are the Pi projects worth your time.
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ZFS vs Btrfs: Choosing the Right Filesystem for Your Homelab Storage
An in-depth comparison of ZFS and Btrfs for homelab storage. Covers data integrity, RAID configurations, snapshots, performance characteristics, and which to choose for NAS, VMs, and containers.
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Hosting Databases in Your Home Lab: PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Redis, and MongoDB
Run production-quality databases in your homelab. Covers PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Redis, and MongoDB with Docker deployment, backup strategies, replication, and performance tuning for self-hosted applications.
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Nginx Proxy Manager: The Easy Reverse Proxy for Your Home Lab
Set up Nginx Proxy Manager in Docker to route traffic, manage SSL certificates, and organize access to all your home lab services with a visual UI.
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Upgrading to 10GbE Networking: Is It Worth It for Your Home Lab?
A practical cost analysis of 10 Gigabit Ethernet for home labs — what hardware you need, what it actually costs, and when the upgrade makes sense.
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Network Switches for Your Homelab: Managed, Unmanaged, and Layer 3
Choose the right network switch for your homelab. Covers managed vs unmanaged, VLAN support, PoE, 10GbE options, and specific switch recommendations at every budget level.
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Self-Hosted Git with Gitea: A Complete Setup Guide
Set up your own Git hosting with Gitea or Forgejo — from Docker Compose installation and configuration to HTTPS, SSH access, repository mirroring, CI/CD, backups, and performance tuning.
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pfSense vs OPNsense: Choosing a Firewall for Your Home Lab
A practical comparison of pfSense and OPNsense for home lab use — features, hardware requirements, UI design, and which one to pick for your setup.
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Best Home Lab Dashboards: Homarr vs Dashy vs Homer vs Homepage
Compare the most popular home lab dashboard tools — Homarr, Dashy, Homer, and Homepage — with setup guides and recommendations for different use cases.
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LXC Containers on Proxmox: Lightweight Alternatives to VMs
A practical guide to using LXC containers on Proxmox VE as a lighter alternative to full virtual machines. Covers when to use LXC vs VMs, setting up templates, resource management, and real-world use cases.
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Setting Up WireGuard VPN to Access Your Home Lab Remotely
A step-by-step guide to installing WireGuard VPN on a Linux server for secure remote access to your home lab. Covers server setup, client configuration, DNS routing, and split tunneling.
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Home Lab Networking Fundamentals: Everything You Need to Know
A practical guide to networking basics for home lab beginners — IP addressing, DHCP, DNS, subnetting, NAT, ports, and choosing the right network gear.
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ZFS Storage Pool Setup: The Complete Home Lab Guide
A practical guide to setting up ZFS storage pools in your home lab — pool types, RAID-Z levels, scrubs, snapshots, and real-world configuration examples.
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Self-Hosted Password Management: Vaultwarden and Passbolt
Deploy a self-hosted password manager with Vaultwarden (Bitwarden-compatible) or Passbolt. Covers Docker deployment, HTTPS setup, browser extensions, mobile apps, emergency access, and backup strategies.
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Proxmox vs ESXi: Which Hypervisor for Your Home Lab?
An honest comparison of Proxmox VE and VMware ESXi for home lab use — covering cost, features, setup complexity, and which one you should actually pick.
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Self-Hosted Push Notifications: ntfy vs Gotify for Home Lab Alerts
Set up ntfy or Gotify to receive push notifications from your home lab services — monitoring alerts, backup completions, and system events on your phone.
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Self-Hosted CI/CD with Gitea Actions
Set up a complete self-hosted CI/CD pipeline using Gitea Actions — from installation to writing workflows, building Docker images, and deploying to your homelab.
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The Arr Stack: Sonarr, Radarr, Prowlarr, and Jellyseerr Explained
Understand and deploy the complete Arr stack for automated media management in your home lab — from indexer management to request fulfillment.
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Setting Up a Proper Server Rack at Home
A practical guide to choosing and setting up a server rack for your homelab. Covers rack sizes, depth considerations, cooling, cable management, PDUs, shelves, and keeping noise and heat under control.
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ECC RAM in Your Home Lab: Do You Actually Need It?
An honest look at ECC memory for home lab use. What ECC actually does, when it genuinely matters, when it doesn't, and whether the extra cost is justified for your setup.
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Essential Docker Compose Stacks for Your Home Lab
Ready-to-deploy Docker Compose configurations for the most useful home lab services — from reverse proxies to media servers, monitoring, and more.
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MetalLB: Bare-Metal Load Balancer for Kubernetes
Deploy MetalLB in your homelab Kubernetes cluster to get real LoadBalancer-type services without a cloud provider. Covers installation, Layer 2 and BGP modes, IP address pools, and practical configuration.
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Running Lightweight Kubernetes in Your Home Lab with k3s
A practical guide to deploying k3s in your home lab — from installation to your first workload, persistent storage, Helm charts, and ingress routing.
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Virtual Networking Deep Dive: Bridges, Bonds, VXLANs, and More
Understand virtual networking for your homelab VMs and containers. Covers Linux bridges, bonds, VXLANs, macvlan, and ipvlan — when to use each and how to configure them.
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Centralized Logging with Grafana Loki
Set up centralized logging in your homelab with Grafana Loki — architecture, installation, Promtail, Docker and systemd log collection, LogQL queries, dashboards, and alerts.
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Mini PCs for Your Home Lab: A Practical Buyer's Guide
Comparing Intel NUC, Beelink, MinisForum, HP EliteDesk Mini, and Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny for homelab use. CPU, RAM, power, noise, and pricing breakdowns.
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Cloudflare Tunnel: Expose Home Lab Services Without Port Forwarding
Set up Cloudflare Tunnel to securely expose your homelab services to the internet. Covers installation, access policies, custom domains, and comparison with VPN alternatives.
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Storage Replication with DRBD for High Availability
Set up DRBD to replicate block storage between two homelab servers for high availability. Covers installation, resource configuration, dual-primary mode, split-brain recovery, and integration with clustering.
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NFS vs SMB vs iSCSI: Choosing the Right Network Storage Protocol
A practical guide to network storage protocols for your home lab — NFS, SMB, and iSCSI compared, with setup examples, performance notes, and when to use each.
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Docker vs Podman for Your Home Lab: A Practical Comparison
An honest comparison of Docker and Podman for home lab use — rootless containers, daemon vs daemonless, Compose vs pods, and when to pick each one.
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Homelab Network Security Audit: Scanning, Testing, and Hardening
Conduct a thorough security audit of your homelab network. Covers port scanning with Nmap, vulnerability assessment with OpenVAS, traffic analysis with Suricata, and a hardening checklist.
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VM Snapshots and Rollback: Safe Experimentation in Your Homelab
Master VM snapshot management in Proxmox, VMware ESXi, and libvirt/KVM. Learn snapshot strategies, automated snapshot schedules, storage considerations, and rollback best practices.
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Authelia: Single Sign-On and 2FA for Your Home Lab
Set up Authelia for SSO and two-factor authentication in your homelab. Covers reverse proxy integration, access policies, OIDC, and comparison with Authentik and Keycloak.
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Tailscale for Home Lab: Zero-Config Remote Access
How to use Tailscale to access your home lab from anywhere without port forwarding, dynamic DNS, or firewall configuration. Covers setup, subnet routing, exit nodes, ACLs, and when to choose Tailscale over WireGuard.
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Self-Hosting Game Servers in Your Home Lab: Minecraft, Valheim, and More
Run dedicated game servers on your home lab hardware — Minecraft, Valheim, Terraria, and Satisfactory with Docker and performance optimization tips.
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Home Lab Monitoring with Grafana and Prometheus
Set up a complete monitoring stack for your home lab using Prometheus and Grafana. Covers installation, node exporters, building dashboards, setting up alerts, and what metrics actually matter.
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Documenting Your Home Lab Setup Effectively
Practical approaches to documenting your homelab — what to document, where to keep it, tools that work, and how to build a documentation habit that survives your inevitable late-night changes.
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Running Home Assistant in Your Home Lab
A complete guide to running Home Assistant in your homelab — installation methods, Zigbee and Z-Wave setup, automations, dashboards, MQTT, ESPHome, and how it compares to OpenHAB.
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Homelab Backup Strategies: Borg, Restic, Duplicati, and the 3-2-1 Rule
A comprehensive guide to backing up your homelab — the 3-2-1 rule, deduplication tools like Borg and Restic, snapshot-based backups, and practical automation for protecting your data.
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Homelab Hardware Lifecycle: Upgrading, Retiring, and Recycling
Manage your homelab hardware through its full lifecycle. Covers upgrade planning, component testing, data wiping, parts reuse, e-waste disposal, and building a hardware inventory system.
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Advanced Game Server Hosting: Mods, Performance Tuning, and Multi-Game Management
Go beyond basic game server setup — mod management, performance optimization, automated backups, player management, and running multiple game servers efficiently in your homelab.
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Keeping Your Home Lab Affordable: A Cost Optimization Guide
Practical strategies for reducing home lab costs — measuring power consumption, choosing efficient hardware, buying used gear, and knowing when to scale up.
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The 3-2-1 Backup Strategy for Your Home Lab
How to implement a real 3-2-1 backup strategy in your home lab using restic, borgbackup, and rclone. Covers local snapshots, NAS backups, offsite replication, and automating the whole thing.
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Your First Home Lab Server: A Beginner's Complete Guide
Everything you need to know to buy, build, and set up your first home lab server — from choosing hardware to installing your first operating system.
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Hyperconverged Infrastructure in Your Home Lab: Proxmox + Ceph
A practical guide to building hyperconverged infrastructure at home with Proxmox and Ceph — clustering, storage tiering, hardware requirements, and honest cost analysis.
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Self-Hosted Ticketing and Project Management for Your Home Lab
Track homelab projects and issues with self-hosted tools. Compares Plane, Leantime, Vikunja, and Focalboard with setup guides, Docker configs, and feature breakdowns.
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GPU Passthrough in Proxmox: The Complete Guide
Step-by-step guide to passing a GPU through to a Proxmox VM — covering IOMMU, VFIO, BIOS settings, NVIDIA and AMD specifics, and real-world use cases.
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Buying Used Dell PowerEdge Servers: What to Look For
A practical guide to buying used Dell PowerEdge servers for your home lab — which models to target, what specs to check, where to buy, and what to avoid.
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Ceph Distributed Storage for Home Labs
Deploy Ceph distributed storage in your homelab with cephadm. Covers minimum hardware requirements, pool configuration, CephFS and RBD, performance tuning, and whether Ceph is right for your setup.
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Home Lab Budget Builds: $100, $300, and $500 Setups
Three home lab build guides at different price points — from a $100 starter to a $500 powerhouse. Real hardware recommendations with specs and use cases.
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Home Lab Security Hardening: A Practical Guide
Harden your home lab against real threats — SSH lockdown, firewall rules, automatic updates, network segmentation, secrets management, and common mistakes to avoid.
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Power Monitoring with Smart PDUs and Home Assistant
Track your homelab's power consumption with smart PDUs and smart plugs, then integrate with Home Assistant for dashboards, automation, and cost tracking.
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Unraid for Home Lab Use: The Complete Guide
A thorough guide to using Unraid in your homelab — the parity system, cache pools, Docker and VM support, Community Applications, and when to choose Unraid over alternatives.