If you run a home lab long enough, this realization eventually hits you: a lot of your hardware spends more time idle than working. Servers sized for future growth, machines you planned to…
In the market for a multi‑gigabit firewall/router, two names come up repeatedly: Firewalla Gold Plus and Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro Max (UDM Pro Max). Both cost around $600 USD, sit at or near…
Tonight, I stumbled upon Immich, a self-hosted photo and video management solution, and I’m blown away. With Immich, you can back up and organize all your photos and videos on your own server….
Docker is a platform for packaging and running applications in isolated units called containers. Each container bundles an application together with its libraries and dependencies, sharing the host’s Linux kernel instead of a…
Back in January 2014, I ordered my first Raspberry Pi (Model B revision 2). Very soon, I realized that there was a host of options to choose from for the required accessories needed…
Two days ago I ran the command hostnamectl status and noticed that my laptop’s firmware date was Tue 2023-08-08. I purchased this ThinkPad T14s laptop 2 years ago. So it seems, since removing…
I have a Raspberry Pi 4 (2 GB RAM) that’s been running my UniFi Network Controller for about four years without issues. Yesterday it was unresponsive and would not boot at all. The…
Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like AT&T, Comcast, Xfinity, Cox, Verizon, Spectrum, T-Mobile, and others supply a basic modem/router combo (gateway) to customers. These devices are often adequate to get online, but they…
This article focuses on the benefits of rolling network racks for established or expanding home networks. If you’re looking for a comprehensive guide to building your first home lab, read my Home Lab…
It’s not every day that a White House policy document reads like an open-source conference keynote. Yet this week, the Trump administration’s “AI Action Plan” put open-source models and Linux-powered infrastructure at the…
Last week I walked into an empty 5 × 4 ft storage room. By the end of the week, that blank space held a fully functional network core designed to keep a small…
Choosing the right network switch is essential for building a reliable home network, home lab, or small‑office setup. The process can feel deceptively simple until slow file transfers or unexpected upgrade costs remind…
Choosing a switch can feel deceptively simple, until slow file transfers, port shortages, and similar unexpected upgrade costs remind you otherwise. Before you click “Buy,” it helps to step back and look at…
Let’s pick up right where Part 1 left off: pfSense Firewall Appliance Unboxing. This isn’t a quick-start guide. It’s my logbook from weeks of fine-tuning pfSense. Weeks, not years, so follow along and…
For the past three years, I’ve been putting off an upgrade to my network’s firewall. During that time, I was balancing multiple priorities: maintaining uptime with multiple ISPs, managing VPN performance limitations, and…
As advancements in machine learning continue to accelerate and evolve, more individuals and small organizations are exploring how to run language models (LLMs) like DeepSeek, LLaMA, Qwen and others on their home servers. This…
By following this guide, you will be able to successfully self-host your preferred DeepSeek model on a home lab or home office server, harnessing the potential of these AI models in a private and…
Recently, I started the process of upgrading my home network to give myself more room to experiment and grow. The first major step was replacing my router with a new firewall appliance, which…
