My Homelab Network

What is a Homelab

A homelab is a personal IT environment that allows you to test, experiment, and learn about various technologies. It is usually a home-based setup where you can configure servers, networks, and various services.

Homelab Diagram
  1. Internet: Represented by the globe at the top, indicating the WAN (Wide Area Network) connection.
  2. Router: Receives the internet connection and provides both wired and wireless (Wi-Fi) access.
  3. Wireless Laptop: Thinkpad 470s with Debian 12. Connected to my network via Wi-Fi.
  4. pfSense Firewall: VM in Proxmox. Acts as the main firewall, managing traffic between the internet and my internal network.
  5. Switch: TP-Link TL-R470t+. Distributes the network connection to various devices.
  6. Windows Machine: My main PC for managing my network.
  7. Synology NAS: 2 x 2To. A Network-Attached Storage device for centralized file storage and backups.
  8. Homelab Server: Intel NUC Mini PC. Hosts several virtual machines (VMs) and Linux containers (LXC). Each VM/container runs a specific service.

Below are short definitions of each service I’m hosting:

Services Overview

VM

  1. Minecraft Server
    A dedicated game server hosting Minecraft worlds for multiplayer gameplay. It allows players to connect, build, explore, and collaborate in a shared environment.

  2. Pi-Hole
    A network-wide ad blocker and DNS sinkhole solution. It filters out advertising and tracking domains, improving privacy and reducing unwanted content across all devices on the network.

  3. Windows Sandbox
    A lightweight, isolated desktop environment provided by Windows. It’s typically used for testing software or files in a secure environment without affecting the main system.

  4. CasaOS
    A simple, community-driven home cloud system for personal data storage, application management, and smart home functions. It provides an easy-to-use web interface for managing services and apps. I’m hosting here Homarr, a dashboard to have all of my services in one place.

LXC

  1. Zoraxy
    A customizable self-hosted proxy service. It allows you to easily manage and secure internal web services, offering features like SSL/TLS termination and authentication.

  2. Jellyfin
    An open-source media server that lets you manage and stream your movies, music, and TV shows to various devices.

  3. Portainer
    A management UI for Docker (and other container environments). It simplifies the deployment, management, and monitoring of containers through a user-friendly web interface. I’m hosting here Tailscale for reaching my homelab from anywhere.

  4. Vikunja
    An open-source task management and to-do list application. It helps organize tasks, projects, and notes.

By hosting these services on my homelab, I gain greater control, privacy, and flexibility compared to relying solely on third-party services. This setup allows for a robust environment tailored to my specific needs.