Practical homelab builds for infrastructure engineers. This is where enterprise skills meet kit you can actually afford. Guides cover mini PC clusters, refurbished Dell and HPE servers, Proxmox hypervisor setups, network segmentation with VLANs, and the power and cooling tradeoffs that matter when you run 24/7 at home. Every build documented here has either sat in a production rack or a real spare bedroom. No theoretical gear lists, no affiliate filler. If you want to learn Kubernetes on a £120 refurbished OptiPlex or run a dozen self-hosted services on a Pi cluster, start here. The homelab is a professional development environment, and this is how we treat it.
Run your own family history platform instead of renting one. Full Gramps Web deployment on a Raspberry Pi or mini PC with Docker Compose, including the first-boot traps nobody documents.
Self-Host Your Family Tree: Gramps Web on Ubuntu with Docker Read More »
Nobody needs an RMM in a homelab. My estate is managed with Ansible, and seventeen Linux hosts do not need remote monitoring and management on top of that. I deployed NetLock RMM at the end of last year anyway, out of curiosity, and because it is privacy-focused and European it sits on the same shelf
I Deployed a Self-Hosted RMM, Decided It Was Limited, and Was Completely Wrong Read More »
A self-hosted, European, privacy-focused RMM deployed with Docker Compose: what NetLock RMM is, how I run it, agent rollout with Ansible, the AI/Ollama layer, and the two gotchas that cost me hours.
NetLock RMM: Overview and Deployment with Docker Read More »
Configure UFW on Ubuntu the way a homelab actually needs it: default-deny, rate-limited SSH, and services locked to your LAN subnet instead of the whole internet.
UFW for Homelabs – Restrict Services to Your LAN Subnet (Ubuntu Firewall Guide) Read More »
SSH is how you manage every Linux server. If someone compromises your SSH access, they own the machine. Getting SSH configuration right is not optional — it is the foundation of server security. This guide covers practical SSH configuration: key-based authentication, port changes, client config, tunnelling, and the hardening steps that protect production servers. Part
SSH Configuration Guide: Ports, Keys, and Security Hardening Read More »
“Permission denied.” The two words every Linux user learns to hate. But file permissions are not a barrier — they are the security model that protects everything on a Linux system. This guide explains how Linux permissions work, how to read them, how to change them, and the common permission sets you will use every
Linux File Permissions Explained: chmod, chown, and the Permission Calculator Read More »
Deleting files in Linux is permanent. There is no recycle bin, no undo, no “are you sure?” prompt by default. One wrong command and production data disappears. This guide covers every method for removing files and directories, from the safe basics to the dangerous power tools, with clear warnings about what can go wrong. Part
How to Remove Files and Directories in Linux (rm, rmdir, find) Read More »
SSH from Windows 10 / 11 to Ubuntu using built-in OpenSSH, WSL, or PuTTY. With key generation and ssh-agent setup for each.
SSH from Windows to Ubuntu: PowerShell, WSL, and PuTTY Read More »
Twenty common SSH errors on Ubuntu with diagnoses and fixes. Connection refused, permission denied, host key verification failed, and the rest. Listicle referen
20 Common SSH Errors on Ubuntu (and How to Fix Each One) Read More »
SSH tunneling on Ubuntu explained with worked examples. Local forwards (-L), remote forwards (-R), dynamic SOCKS proxies (-D), and when each is the right tool.
SSH Tunneling Explained: Local, Remote, and Dynamic Forwards Read More »
