Homelab

Scope

This homelab exists to support:

• virtualization and infrastructure testing
• network design and traffic management
• long-lived services with low operational overhead

The emphasis is on:

• correctness
• observability
• reproducibility

Performance is considered, but reliability and clarity take priority.

Overview

The lab is designed as a small but capable environment for running production-adjacent workloads, experimenting with network and systems design, and documenting results for future reference.

Where possible, designs favor:

• fewer moving parts
• explicit configuration
• deterministic behavior

Complexity is introduced only when it provides a clear benefit.

Documentation Sections

The homelab documentation is organized into three primary areas:

• Hardware — Physical infrastructure (compute, storage, systems)
• Network — Network architecture, routing, VLANs, and traffic management
• Software — Services, applications, and software infrastructure

Additional resources:

• Lab Philosophy — Design principles and hardware selection criteria

Core Capabilities

The homelab is used for:

• hypervisor and VM lifecycle management
• containerized services
• network segmentation and traffic shaping
• monitoring, logging, and metrics collection
• hardware validation and burn-in testing

It is intentionally not optimized for:

• maximum density
• synthetic benchmarking
• short-lived experimentation without documentation

Virtualization

Virtualization is a primary function of the lab.

The environment is used to:

• host infrastructure services
• test OS and kernel behavior
• validate resource allocation strategies
• observe performance under sustained load

Virtual machines are treated as disposable, but configurations and design decisions are documented when they prove useful.

Networking

Networking is treated as a first-class system rather than an afterthought.

Key areas of focus include:

• VLAN-based segmentation
• predictable routing behavior
• traffic classification and shaping
• latency and bufferbloat mitigation
• observability of packet flow and link health

Network configuration favors explicit rules over implicit behavior.

Hardware

Hardware is selected to support:

• long uptime
• stable thermals
• predictable performance characteristics
• sufficient expansion headroom

Preference is given to platforms with good documentation and management interfaces, even if they are not the most cost-efficient options.

Individual systems are documented separately under the Hardware section.

Documentation Philosophy

This site functions as a working notebook.

Documentation is written:

• for future reference
• to capture decisions and constraints
• to preserve useful commands and configuration details

Pages may be incomplete, informal, or narrowly scoped.
If a note remains useful, it is kept. If it no longer applies, it may be removed without notice.

Change Discipline

Changes are generally incremental.

Large redesigns are avoided unless there is a clear operational reason. When changes are made, the goal is to understand why the new design is better, not merely that it works.