Gedöns
The term “Gedöns” describes objects that are not absolutely necessary for everyday use and are therefore considered superfluous. In my case, it describes my home lab very well — supplemented by the syllable “Tech”. 🤪
My Daily Companions
I strive to use resources sustainably and consciously, opting to repair rather than replace items whenever possible. This philosophy is reflected in the list of my daily companions. The only exception is my iPhone, which is provided by my employer and replaced approximately every three years.
- Apple iPhone SE (4.7″, 2022), 128 GB
- Apple iPad Pro (10.5″, 2017), 256 GB
- Apple MacBook Pro (2021), M1 Pro, 1 TB, 16 GB RAM
- Samsung 4K Display
- Logitech MX Keys for Mac
- Logitech MX Master 3 for Mac
As a computer scientist, I don’t just use my PC for browsing the web or writing letters only. I’ve been self-hosting smaller services, such as my password manager, for several years to keep my data secure. Last autumn, I took a significant step by replacing all possible services with self-hosted alternatives, including my own social media services and mail server.
Proxmox Cluster
Below you will find a few up-to-date (29.05.2024) photos of my “home lab”. As you will see, there is still room for improvement in terms of professionalization and at some point I would like to upgrade to a 19” rack. Currently, however, family comes first, and I live with the equipment I already own.
Hardware
- 2x Beelink EQ12, Intel N100 CPU, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD storage
- 1x Venoen Mini PC, Intel N100 CPU, 32 GB RAM, 2 TB SSD storage
- 1x Lenovo ThinkCentre M920Q Tiny, Intel i5-8500T CPU, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD storage
- 1x HP EliteBook, Intel i5-4310U, 16 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD storage
Software (as of 27.06.2024)
- Proxmox Virtual Environment 8.2.4 with various LXC containers for:
- AdGuard Home (primary and secondary for redundancy)
- AdGuard Sync (for synchronizing settings)
- Bitwarden (long-used password manager)
- BookStack (personal knowledge base)
- FreshRSS (most used application)
- Grafana, InfluxDB, Speedtest-Tracker, Umami & Uptime Kuma (monitoring)
- Homepage (simple dashboard)
- Immich (iCloud photo storage alternative)
- Invidious (privacy backend for YouTube)
- IT-Tools & Web-Check (useful tools)
- Jellyfin (a free software media system)
- LanguageTool (useful for writing)
- Lidarr (a music collection manager for Usenet user)
- Mastodon & Pixelfed (federated services)
- Nextcloud (family data storage)
- Radarr (a video collection manager for Usenet user)
- Rallly (a self-hosted, open-source scheduling and collaboration tool)
- Readeck (occasionally used for scheduling)
- SABnzbd (Free and easy binary newsreader)
- SearXNG (privacy-friendly Google alternative)
- Sonarr (a tv series collection manager for Usenet user)
- Tandoor (recipe management)
- Wallos (helpful addition)
- WireGuard (secured way into my homelab)
- WordPress (hosting this page)
Proxmox Backup Server
“Hardware”
- LXC Container with a mounted NFS shared storage from my Synology NAS
Software
- Proxmox Backup Server 3.2-6
- Backups are stored on the Synology
Monitoring Dashboard
Hardware
- 1x Fujitsu Futro S920, 8 GB RAM, 128 GB storage
- 1x Fujitsu B24-8 TS 24″ Display (vertical orientation)
Software
- Lubuntu 22.04 LTS
- Firefox (for Grafana dashboards)
Synology DS223J 2 Bay Desktop NAS
Storage
- 2x 12 TB Seagate Enterprise NAS HDD
Purpose
- Backup storage for Proxmox Cluster applications
- Time Machine server for all Mac computers in our home
External Hosts
1. Netcup
While I love self-hosting applications, I prefer to ensure reliability for communication services. Thus, I host my mail server on a VPS in Netcups data center in Nuremberg.
Hardware
- VPS 1000 ARM G11, 6 vCore, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB storage
Software
- Dockerized Mailcow (mail server, web mailer, contacts & calendar)
2. Oracle
Hardware
- Oracle Standard A1.Flex, 4 OCPU, 24 GB RAM, 200 GB storage
Software
Currently more or less my playground for testing new software or automation solutions.
Network
- FRITZ!Box 7590 AX connected to Telekom DSL (250 Mbps down, 40 Mbps up)
- Internet fallback via ZTE LTE Stick with Vodafone contract
- 2x TP-Link TL-SG608E (one for private network, one for Proxmox VLAN)
- 1x TP-Link TL-SG605E (for wireless access points on each floor)
- 1x GL.iNET Beryl AX3000 Portable VPN-Router (secure network access wherever I am)
Additional Stuff
- Creality Ender 3-S1 3D Printer (a 3D printer makes life easier in any situation)
- Fujitsu ScanSnap ix500 Document Scanner (purchased 15 years ago and still receiving updates)