r/homelab

I had a Raspberry Pi 5 running a BTC node that I wasn’t really using anymore.

So I thought, what if I turn it into a small home server to test things?

I’m pretty new to all of this, so I’m not even sure if this already counts as a homelab.

This weekend I connected two ESP microcontrollers over SPI using custom embedded firmware and the result is something I’m pretty proud of.

The device bridges two completely separate WiFi networks simultaneously. One side connects to my CPAP writes therapy data to an SD card and exposes it over a secured local WiFi. The other side connects to my home network, where a server endpoint receives that data in chunks.

In between, the two microcontrollers talk over SPI synchronized, clocked, back-and-forth in milliseconds. One picks up the data, the other pushes it forward. I call it the Miner and the Mule. The handshake happens fast enough that from the outside, it just looks like the CPAP is on the network.

Once the server ingests the data, it fires MQTT messages that get picked up by Home Assistant so my sleep therapy data flows straight into my homelab dashboard without any cloud middleware in between.

Loved what I got with two cheap ESP32 and I was able to replace a dual WiFi Rapeberry Pi doing the bridge and move the service to my main NUC.

Thinking of building a 3D enclosure to stick it in the back of the machine

I managed to get this server for cheap but the seller didn't have the rails, does anyone know which model this chassis uses?

One of these days I'm gonna get a nice KVM/KMM and a rack mount router, but for now this will do

I'm building a jbod. And I just want to know if I can daisy-chain them. (I'm not going to daisy-chain them inside the jbod, only two jbods together)

My home network. I've organized all my home networks into one so I can monitor all my devices, and I've also deployed a home app server with my apps. I set up immich just in time, as I can't pay for iCloud. All that's left is to set up backups in S3 storage and switch from uptime-kuma monitoring to Prometheus. I created this setup in Pixso.

First server rack, had it for a while, been updated a little with a second screen 😭

Aside from the PC and the actual server rack, everything was from hard rubbish that a company was getting rid of.

Yes, it’s in my bedroom.

I’ve always been pretty bad at cable management. How would you all recommend handling this? The second two pictures are attempts at getting AI to show me how to make it work but it seems to assume that the cables are as flexible as wet noodles.

For reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/1sbu2fe/got_my_setup_all_together_now_rack_recommendation/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

So I have a rack well sort off a rack but gets the job done. What should I go for next?

I have documented the complete architectural overhaul of my homelab, moving from a single Mac Studio setup to a high-availability Proxmox cluster.

The transition involved moving away from standard DHCP to a more resilient networking model using OPNsense static reservations to eliminate kube-api connection drift. The stack now leverages Minisforum MS-01 hardware, Terraform for infrastructure provisioning, Ansible for cluster orchestration, and FluxCD for GitOps-driven application management.

This project was a significant exercise in building a production-grade environment at home, focusing on network stability and automated lifecycle management.

Detailed technical breakdown and architectural diagrams are available in the full post:

https://georgeezejiofor.com/homelab-ha-kubernetes-cluster-upgrade-my-new-shrine-altar

I am quite new to the homelabbing stuff, but i have decided to start digging down this rabbit hole. have deployed my homelab at https://gitlab.com/aniketrath/stackcraft . Will be happy so share you suggestions for improvements.

NOTE: i am working on the terraform stuff, as i know its not considering the previous state. will have it fixed soon. I am still learning a lot of things.

Picked up an old WatchGuard XTM 5 and thought it would be a quick win — throw in an SSD, install OPNsense, done.

Yeah… not quite.

Started off simple:

- Swap out the tiny CF card

- Add RAM

- Install OPNsense to SSD

Then everything went sideways.

As soon as SATA was connected → no boot.

Tried multiple drives → same issue.

Turned out the real problem was the locked-down BIOS and some very outdated assumptions baked into the hardware.

Ended up:

- Flashing an unlocked BIOS

- Switching SATA to AHCI

- Reinstalling OPNsense using MBR instead of GPT

- Manually fixing boot/root issues

After all that, it finally clicked.

Now it:

- Boots cleanly from SSD

- Updates properly

- Runs OPNsense without any weird hacks

- Lives in the rack as a proper firewall

Honestly went from “this will take an hour” to “why do I do this to myself” real fast 😅

Finally cleaned it up enough to share.

Split setup instead of a single rack

compute / control (BECCA)

hardware + repair

systems in various states of “working”

Not pretty, but everything here gets used, broken, and rebuilt.

Under the chaos:

12-node cluster

~40TB storage

Anyone else running a junkyard-style lab instead of a clean rack?