Homelab
Mini PC vs Raspberry Pi for Homelabs: Which One Should Run Your Services?
A practical homelab decision guide for choosing between Raspberry Pi boards and x86 mini PCs for Docker, Proxmox, storage, networking, and always-on services.
How Much Does a Homelab Really Cost in Electricity?
Electricity cost is simple to estimate: watts x 24 x 365 / 1000 x your kWh rate. The surprise is not one server; it is the combined idle load of router, switches.
Beginner Proxmox Home Server Build: Safe Defaults for Your First Node
A beginner-friendly Proxmox build plan covering hardware, storage, networking, first VMs, backups, updates, and validation before trusting the server.
RAID, ZFS Snapshots, Sync, and Backup: What Each One Does Not Protect
Use all four for different jobs. RAID keeps storage online after some disk failures, snapshots recover recent local changes, sync moves current files between places, and backup restores data after loss, corruption.
Docker Compose for Normal People: Run Home Services Without Container Chaos
A plain-English Docker Compose guide for running home services with understandable folders, volumes, ports, environment files, updates, and backups.
How Do You Back Up Docker Volumes and Databases Properly?
Back up Docker by backing up the data, configuration, and restore instructions, not the running container. For databases, use application-aware dumps or backup tools, then store those dumps with the volume backups.
Remote Access Without Opening Router Ports: Safer Homelab Access With Tailscale and Cloudflare Tunnel
Reach homelab services remotely with tailnets, tunnels, access policies, DNS, MFA, and clear rules for what should stay private.
One Shared Database Server or One Database Per App?
For most small homelabs, a shared database server is easier to back up, monitor, and secure once you understand it. Per-app database containers are simpler at first and reduce coupling, but they.
Seerr Setup Guide: Media Requests for Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, Sonarr, and Radarr
A practical Seerr setup guide for adding a private media request layer to Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby while handing approved movies and shows to Radarr and Sonarr safely.
Monitoring and Health Checks for a Plex and Arr Homelab
Monitor the outcomes that keep a media stack useful: mounted storage, free space, successful imports, playable files, healthy queues, available transcode resources, current certificates, and restorable backups. Start with one daily report and a few actionable alerts before building a large dashboard. Rights and lawful use: Monitor only systems and media workflows you administer, and […]