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Section V · The Lab

The Lab

Homelab, smart home, the wires between.

Two boxes do the heavy lifting, with about twenty smart-home devices and a small pile of network gear arranged around them. Eight sections in total, written down so I remember what runs where the next time something breaks at eleven at night and I have to work out which thing is which all over again. The Observability section is largely an admission that there isn’t really any.

  1. I.ComputeComputeA custom Unraid tower and a Raspberry Pi, kept on separate boxes on purpose.wednesday · tars2 entriesApril 28, 2026
  2. II.StorageStorageAn Unraid array with an NVMe cache in front, a failing HGST off to one side, and encrypted backups at Wasabi.Unraid array · Cache pool · Dodo + 1 more4 entriesApril 28, 2026
  3. III.NetworkNetworkTwo ISPs, one load balancer, WiFi 7, and DHCP that lives on a Pi.ER605 · BE6500 · AdGuard Home + 3 more6 entriesApril 28, 2026
  4. IV.IngressIngressPersonal access through Tailscale, the apps over their vendor clouds, almost nothing else exposed on purpose.Tailscale · Plex remote access · Tapo cloud + 3 more6 entriesApril 28, 2026
  5. V.ServicesServicesHome Assistant on the Pi and Plex on the tower, with a handful of smaller services tying them together.Home Assistant · Zigbee2MQTT · MQTT + 3 more6 entriesApril 28, 2026
  6. VI.Smart HomeSmart HomeAbout twenty devices spread across two Zigbee meshes, with almost nothing leaving the LAN.Hue Bridge · Hue Lamp · Bedroom · Hue Lamp · Work Room + 18 more21 entriesApril 28, 2026
  7. VII.AutomationsAutomationsFour automations covering heaters in the morning and the balcony door in the evening, none of them clever.Morning Heaters · Heater On-Demand · Balcony Door Evening Check + 1 more4 entriesApril 28, 2026
  8. VIII.ObservabilityObservabilityWhatever each tool's default screen shows, and nothing layered on top.Home Assistant · AdGuard Home · Zigbee2MQTT + 5 more8 entriesApril 28, 2026