2024 Homelab Recap
Inspired by post on lorenzomodolo.com I wanted to catalog my current homelab setup at the end of the year for a few reasons:
- I tend to test a lot of things and had many containers & services running that were probably very important for a short period of time but now are just taking up resources and needed to be cleaned up.
- I want it to act as a data point when I look at my homelab in the future to see how it has evolved.
- I want to share what I have running in case it helps someone else with their homelab.
- I need practice writing in general and this seems like a good way to do it.
Homelab Hardware
Callisto
The Callisto server is an old iMac with a cracked screen that currently sits facing the wall under my desk (to hide its shame). The server is running Ubuntu 24 and is a mix of VMs (Libvirt/KVM) and Containers (docker engine, working on replacing with podman):
Virtual Machines
As part of my continuing effort to learn and use Kubernetes, I deployed a 2 node Microk8s cluster using Ubuntu 24 VMs. The main service running in the cluster is the Tailscale Operator, which I use to expose private only services running in the cluster to other devices on my Tailnet. The server also has Rocky / Debian / Centos Stream VMs but these are usually powered down unless I am testing Ansible scripts.
- mk8s-cntrl - Microk8s control plane instance
- mk8s-wrkr - Microk8s worker node instance
- tethys - Debian 12 instance
- hera - Rocky 9 instance
- zeus - Centos Stream instance
Containers
- Traefik - frontend proxy for containers using Let's Encrypt for TLS with the DigitalOcean DNS Challenge
- Actual Budget - Personal finance and budgeting application with bank and credit card sync
- Your Spotify
- Client - Web dashboard for interacting with your
Your Spotifyapp server - Server - The
Your Spotifyserver that retrieves and stores listening history in mongodb - MongoDB - Backend storage for
Your Spotify
- Client - Web dashboard for interacting with your
- Forgejo - Open-source fork of Gitea for storing code before I make it public on
Github/Gitlab - OpenGist - Self-hosted, open-source alternative to Github Gists.
Hyperion
A Synology DS920+ NAS with 6TB of storage and 2 SSD Cache drives. While the system runs a few containers, its main function is being a backup repository for my machines (Time Machine or rsnapshot) and photos (iCloud Photos) as well as a shared drive across all of my Macs using SynologyDrive. The NAS also runs Tailscale to allow me to access the device remotely and and acts as a Subnet Router advertising my home network to the rest of my Tailnet.
Containers
- JellyFin - I recently replaced Plex with this media server and so far, so good. If the kids like a movie and I know it will be leaving a streaming service soon, it ends up here.
- Prowlarr - Usenet index search client
- Sabnzbd - Usenet download client integrated with Prowlarr
- Request Baskets
- Request Baskets app - a web service to collect arbitrary HTTP requests and inspect them via RESTful API or simple web UI. I use this as a testing webhook to identify when new services are started in the homelab or to verify the format and structure of an API payload request.
- PostgresDB - backend storage for Request Baskets application
- Watchtower - Automatic update of running containers
Jupiter
A MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015/2017) running Ubuntu server 22. The main function of this box is as a Prefect server, a python based orchestration and workflow platform. Currently it has just a hand full of tasks that run on a schedule to do things like check TLS expiration dates, dynamic DNS IP updates, and pulling current usage across various cloud providers.
Everyday Compute
Firefly
Personal Mac mini (M1, 2020) running macOS Sonoma. My main machine outside of work hours, it runs a handful of containers and is where I do most of my development work / start new projects.
Io
Work MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021) running macOS Sequoia. This is my main machine during work hours and is where I do most of my development work.
Network Hardware
- Tachus Fiber internet - Fairly symmetrical 1G fiber internet here in the Woodlands.
- Google Wifi - Mesh Wifi system with 6 endpoints around the house.
- A few un-managed switches for connecting printer, AppleTV, etc in the office.
2025 Updates and ideas
- Networking is one of the main places I want to spend time/money on upgrades in 2025. I want to introduce VLAN segmentation and better logging/visibility into my homelab as well as native support for VPN in the network router.
- Re-introduce Pi-hole to the homelab. I was running this previously on a Raspberry Pi that finally kicked the bucket and has yet to be replaced.
- Add in Home Assistant Yellow for tying in smart devices that don't natively interact with Homekit / Apple Home and to act as a home dashboard for an older iPad I want to setup in the kitchen.