Welcome to my homelab documentation. This repository contains details about my hardware, software tools, network design, and motivations behind the decisions I have made.
The entire point of the homelab is for me to learn more about devices, software, networking, and security.
Please note that this documentation is constantly evolving; I started working on this on November 17, 2025, so depending on when you view it, it might not be as extensive as I would like it to be.
Get started in the Overiew!
The first computer I ever used extensively was in 1996 and ran DOS; I learned how to write simple games in GW Basic and to use the command line.
My first computer that was mine was in 1996: a Quantex 200 MHz Pentium II with 32 MB of RAM and a 4.3 GB hard drive running Windows 95 (with Microsoft Plus! and MMX technology, whatever those were). I tore that thing up and down and all around trying to figure out how everything worked. The best present I got for Christmas 1998 was a copy of Windows 98 to upgrade the computer along with 64 extra MB of RAM and a 13.1 GB hard drive.
I have been using Linux as my primary OS since Summer 2003, when a friend introduced me to it after I complained about constantly getting BSODs in Windows XP. I was always trying to tinker with computers, which usually broke them, so it was so cool to me to learn about an OS that wants you to break it and then fix it again. I was drawn to Linux because of this curiosity and drive to learn ethos, but also because the concept of Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) really spoke to me. I started out using Debian but once Ubuntu came out I switched to that; I used that primarily until around 2018 or so when I switched to using Fedora as my primary. Up until that point I used the command line for basic things (updates, installations, nothing major) and depended on the GUI for most everything.
From 2012-2017 I worked at a university in a role that had me set up a Linux server to run a FOSS Learning Management System (LMS) called Moodle for the department in which I worked. This taught me a lot more about Linux beyond the GUI, and I was introduced to concepts like databases, webservers, and much more.
In 2021 I wanted to finally REALLY learn how Linux worked, so I bought a Raspberry Pi, installed Debian on it, and just started doing stuff with it. I installed Nextcloud and Jellyfin and a bunch of other small FOSS projects I found on github or various subreddits (/r/homelab, /r/selfhosted, /r/linux).
I even started studying this year (2025) for the CompTIA Linux+ exam, which I passed in October!