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.
If you’re getting started with a homelab, you’re likely asking yourself: should I buy new hardware, build a setup from used gear, or rent cloud servers like Linode or DigitalOcean? This guide will help you compare all three paths so you can choose the best fit for your learning goals, budget, and career growth. Homelabs […]
Getting Started with a Homelab: Buy, Build, or Rent? Read More »
Want a faster, more secure Raspberry Pi setup? In this step-by-step guide, we show you how to install Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS onto a USB stick using Raspberry Pi Imager — perfect for Pi clusters, homelabs, and Azure Arc projects.
How to Install Ubuntu Server on a Raspberry Pi (2026 Guide) Read More »
Below is the shopping / build sheet for the Raspberry Pi Cluster project From the homelab: I built a Pi cluster for running lightweight services — monitoring, DNS, and a K3s Kubernetes playground. Here is the exact shopping list I used, with notes on what is worth spending on and where to save. Some variables
PiCluster – Build Shopping List Read More »
Forget expensive racks. Your homelab journey starts with old hardware, cloud credits, and a little curiosity. Here’s how to build your first lab in 2025.
How to Build Your First Homelab (2025 Edition) Read More »
Hands-on beats theory. A homelab is your personal playground for learning tech the real way — and it can launch your career.
What is a Homelab — and Why Do You Need One? Read More »
This is day one of something big. ReadTheManual is the new home for hands-on tech learning — homelabs, self-hosted tools, career-focused projects, and a growing community of makers and mentors.
Welcome to ReadTheManual: Day One of Something Big Read More »
