Homelabs have become a bit of a hobby and a practical necessity for many IT professionals, and for me, it sits right at the intersection of personal curiosity, skill development, and ensuring rock-solid infrastructure for a fully remote work life. I wanted to share a look into my own setup in Texas, how I keep myself online (rain or shine), and the blend of hardware and software that makes it all possible.

Why I Built a Homelab

A homelab isn’t just about tinkering with cool tech. It is where I keep my automation dreams alive, stay ahead on new tools and technologies, and test out ideas well before proposing them at work. It lets me break things safely, automate routine tasks around the house, and ultimately, be a more confident and effective professional.

Reliability is also a big deal for me. I work from home and cannot afford extended outages, so I have engineered my setup to handle both internet and power hiccups seamlessly.

My personal workstation (and gaming rig) connects over 10Gbps fiber to the network. The fast connection makes it possible for me to use iSCSI storage straight from the server, which is especially handy for something like my ever-growing Steam library.

Always-On Connectivity, No Matter What

My internet setup consists of two ISPs: AT&T Fiber for primary, and T-Mobile LTE as my backup. My Mikrotik router is configured to automatically fail over between them whenever there is an outage. Being offline is simply not an option, especially with my livelihood on the line. A 1500VA UPS also stands by for short power blips, while a natural gas generator is there for anything more serious.

Performance Hardware in the Heat

All of my core networking equipment lives out in the garage, which means it is regularly tested by true Texas summers. Temperatures in there can exceed 100F, but I have been genuinely impressed at how modern hardware soldiers on through the heat. Even at the hottest point of the year, CPU temperatures rarely pass 60C. Admittedly, the fan noise is formidable during those stretches.

The Heart of My Homelab: The Kubernetes Cluster

This is where things get interesting. Almost everything I run is containerized and managed through Kubernetes on the Dell R720, aside from a couple of core services on bare metal.

Here’s a peek at the services that keep my digital home humming:

  • Metal LB: Assigns a virtual IP to each Kubernetes Load Balancer.
  • Metal LB DNS: A Python daemon watches for changes and updates DNS entries in real time.
  • Tailscale: My solution for secure remote access without exposing anything directly to the internet.
  • NFS CSI: Makes storage provisioning effortless for my Kubernetes pods using the server’s NFS capabilities.
  • Akri: I love obscure projects, and this one lets me expose USB devices (like my Zigbee hub) directly to Home Assistant.
  • GitLab Runner: Everything, from infrastructure to deployments, is managed as code. Self-hosting a runner keeps my CI private and versatile.
  • Cert Manager: Auto-provisions valid SSL certificates for internal services.
  • Proxy (nginx): Unlike typical ingress controllers, I use this for flexible and complex routing, including dynamic naming and WebSockets.
  • Samba: While moving away from CIFS for most things, I still keep Samba running for legacy needs.
  • Omada: Central management for my wireless access points.
  • Saltstack: Keeps the bare metal side of my operations well managed.
  • Docmost: My internal wiki, where I even draft posts like this.
  • Zabbix: For monitoring everything—from core services to random household sensors.
  • Nextcloud: A private alternative to Dropbox for personal file sharing.
  • OpenSearch & Fluent Bit: I like having one place to track logs from absolutely everything.
  • Custom API: Mainly a Python glue service, such as letting Home Assistant check the weather.
  • Home Assistant: The brains of my smart home. Lights, sensors, shopping lists, and plenty more.

Some services still run directly on the Dell R720, outside Kubernetes, for performance and reliability:

  • iSCSI Target: The main engine for bulk storage. This is what powers my speedy, shared Steam folder.
  • NFS Server: Handles persistent storage requests coming from the cluster.

Network and Software Architecture

While words get you so far, diagrams really show what’s going on under the hood. Here’s my high-level hardware and software setup:

Hardware Architecture

diagram Hardware Overview

Software Overview

diagram Software Overview

Final Thoughts

Running a homelab like this is both fun and incredibly rewarding. It keeps my skills sharp, ensures that I am never caught off guard by outages, and lets me explore a truly impressive open source ecosystem. If you are considering building one, I would encourage you to start small and grow as your needs and interests evolve.