Homelab
Old Gaming PC vs Mini PC: The Real Power-Cost Math for 24/7 Servers
A practical power-cost guide for deciding whether an old gaming PC or an efficient mini PC makes more sense as a 24/7 home server.
TrueNAS, Unraid, OMV, or Proxmox: Which Home Server OS Fits Your Lab?
A practical home server OS comparison for TrueNAS, Unraid, OpenMediaVault, and Proxmox based on storage, VMs, containers, hardware, and recovery.
NAS vs DAS vs Mini PC: The Storage Decision Tree
A practical decision tree for choosing NAS, DAS, or mini PC storage based on who needs the files, how apps run, and how recovery should work.
The Complete Plex, Arr, and Tdarr Homelab Media Automation Series
A series wrap-up linking the complete Plex, Seerr, Tracearr, Sonarr, Radarr, Prowlarr, SABnzbd, Tdarr, storage, GPU, reverse proxy, backup, and monitoring homelab guides. Rights and lawful use: Follow this series only for media you are permitted to obtain, organize, back up, transcode, and play. Request automation and indexer integration do not create permission to acquire, […]
How Seerr and Tracearr Fit Into a Plex, Arr, and Tdarr Homelab
A detailed architecture guide showing how Seerr request intake and Tracearr playback analytics complete a Plex, Radarr, Sonarr, Prowlarr, SABnzbd, and Tdarr homelab workflow.
Tracearr Setup Guide: Real-Time Monitoring for Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby
A practical Tracearr guide for monitoring Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby streams with real-time sessions, playback analytics, account-sharing alerts, privacy-aware access, and source-based Ubuntu deployment.
Homelab Backup Strategy: NAS, Offsite Copies, and Restore Tests
A practical homelab backup strategy covering 3-2-1 design, NAS backups, offsite copies, immutable or offline protection, and restore drills.
Zigbee vs Thread for Home Assistant: Which Mesh Should You Build?
Zigbee remains the practical mesh for many Home Assistant sensors and switches, while Thread is the Matter-forward path. The right answer is often both.
OPNsense, pfSense, UniFi, or Consumer Router: Which Should Run Your Homelab?
Use a consumer router if you need simplicity, UniFi if you want integrated routing/switching/AP management, and OPNsense or pfSense if firewall policy, VPNs, VLANs, logging, and control matter more than polish.