HomeLab 2025

My Homelab in early 2025

My homelab setup has remained stable since last year, with a few software changes on simplification and utility.
The main hardware I use is repurposed Dell Optiplex machines (9020m and 7060m).

Hardware Configuration

Dell 9020m: i3-....
Dell 7060m: i5-8500T, 16GB, 256GB

Power consumption is under 20W on average for both machines.

Network Configuration

I upgraded from a thrifted OpenWRT router to a new router, though the performance gain was negligible for my usage. I should have consulted resources like WiiSFi before making this purchase ;_;

Software

New Additions

My software stack has evolved with several new additions that enhance functionality:

Beszel: A lightweight communication tool for self-hosting
Glance: A quick file viewer that supports various formats
Healthchecks: For monitoring and alerting on my scheduled tasks
Immich: Self-hosted photo and video backup solution
Infisical: Secret management solution (though I'm still using .env files for now)
Memos: A lightweight note-taking service

Retired Services

I've removed several services to reduce complexity and focus on what I actually use:

Motioneye
OpenWRT
Dagster
Grafana
Filestash
Homepage

The main reason for ditching these services was that they either added unnecessary complexity to my setup or I simply wasn't using them regularly enough to justify their maintenance.

For the complete configuration details, check out my Ansible code: ansible-compose

Why Spend Time on a Homelab?

For me, tinkering with hardware and software helps me become better at making tradeoffs between money, time, and learning.

I've learned that:

Spending 20 hours to save $10 is a poor investment of time
Spending 40 hours building a project that won't see regular use is equally unproductive

My homelab journey has evolved through distinct phases:

Initial Learning Phase: Focusing on Linux, Docker, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
Building Phase: Developing my personal data platform
Optimization Phase: Managing my time effectively, simplifying workflows, and aligning projects with my personal values

Building things from hardware to final product has helped me understand new concepts while building upon my existing knowledge base.

Future Plans

Do I want a small rack? Yes. Does a full Ubiquiti setup sound cool? Absolutely.
Do I want to spend a fortune? Not really.

I already have some projects in the works to build a NAS to store photos, videos, and as a backup for my personal documents.
I'm going down the route of Thunderbolt for connectivity between the NAS and my laptop. A full write-up on this setup is coming soon!

The software stack for this NAS will likely be TrueNAS virtualized on Proxmox.