I finally started building out a homelab of my own. It is something I have wanted to do for a while to learn more about networking, security, and servers. This first version of my rack is small but already teaching me a lot.
Why a homelab
The idea started from wanting an environment to experiment in. I have been learning more about cybersecurity and systems administration, but I wanted a space where I could test things out and learn more about networking. At the same time, I wanted more control over my own hosting, storage, and network traffic.
A homelab solves all of that. It gives me hardware I can tinker with, software I can deploy, and plenty of problems to solve along the way. More importantly, it forces me to really learn how the pieces fit together instead of just reading about it.
The rack and hardware
The rack itself is a DeskPi 8U Rackmate T1, which feels like a good entry point. It is small enough to fit on a desk or shelf but has enough space to mount multiple boards, a switch, power distribution, and other hardware.
Inside I currently have
- Netgear GS308E managed switch
- GeeekPi patch panel
- Tupavco PDU
- Beelink Mini PC running Proxmox
- Two Raspberry Pi 4Bs with 8 GB of RAM each and Ice Tower cooling
- SanDisk 1 TB USB SSD
- 200W USB power station
- Rii X8 mini keyboard
- MangoApple travel router flashed with Hak5 WiFi Pineapple firmware for wireless security testing
With the basics in place, I can already run VMs, manage networking, and explore different services.
Planned upgrades include a ZimaBoard 2 for NAS, a UPS, external backup drives, another mini PC, and eventually a firewall box. The firewall is something I am excited about since it would let me create a proper DMZ environment and isolate traffic in a more professional way.
First impressions and assembly
Unboxing everything and setting it up in the DeskPi rack was satisfying. The patch panel gave it a cleaner feel than just plugging devices into a switch.
Cable management turned out a lot better than I expected. I used velcro cable straps to bundle everything neatly, and the 200W USB power station makes it easy to keep all the small devices powered without a bunch of bricks and adapters.
Seeing the rack powered on for the first time felt like a milestone. Even though the services were minimal, just having a stack of gear in a proper rack made it feel more like a real lab.
Network setup
Networking has been the biggest area of growth and frustration. I am still shaky on the fundamentals, but each problem teaches me more.
The homelab subnet runs on 192.168.1.x, with the TP-Link RE505X WiFi extender acting as both DHCP and DNS gateway for the rack. It is a bit of a hacky solution, but it works for now.
TP-Link RE505X configuration
LAN static IP settings
- IP Address: 192.168.1.254
- Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
- Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
- Primary DNS: 192.168.1.2 Pi-hole
- Secondary DNS: 1.1.1.1 Cloudflare
DHCP server enabled
- IP Address Pool: 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.199
- Address Lease Time: 1 minute testing
- Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
- Primary DNS: 192.168.1.2 Pi-hole
- Secondary DNS: 1.1.1.1 Cloudflare
Devices on the homelab subnet
- pi01 at 192.168.1.2 Raspberry Pi running Pi-hole
- pi02 at 192.168.1.3 Raspberry Pi running Tailscale
- zima01 TBD ZimaBoard 2 planned for NAS
- core01 TBD Proxmox host running VMs
This isolates the homelab from my main home network 192.168.0.x. Pi-hole handles DNS for the rack, while the WiFi extender acts as DHCP. The Netgear switch ties it all together.
Proxmox and running VMs
The Beelink Mini PC is running Proxmox, which has quickly become the heart of the homelab. Inside Proxmox I have set up a Kali Linux VM that I use for training and practicing against Hack The Box and TryHackMe labs. It is much smoother to spin up a dedicated VM inside my rack than to rely on my main laptop for everything.
For now, my website moose.sh is still hosted on Linode. The plan is to eventually migrate it into the homelab once I am confident in the setup and hopefully I have the right security in place.
Wazuh SIEM on the roadmap
Wazuh SIEM is not running yet, but it is something I want to set up soon. Being able to monitor logs and events across the rack would give me a clearer picture of what is actually happening. It is one thing to know devices are running, but another to see who is talking to what and where traffic is going.
I expect Wazuh to be another challenge, but hopefully one that pays off with better visibility and another layer of learning.
Lessons learned so far
- Networking is harder than I thought, but every failure teaches me more
- Proxmox is smoother than expected and makes VMs feel powerful
- Even a small rack setup feels like a big step toward learning real infrastructure
- Documenting the process is valuable, it shows how much I am figuring out along the way
Next steps
The upgrade I am most excited about is the ZimaBoard 2, which will be my first NAS. I plan to migrate files off multiple cloud services into my own storage, saving money and gaining control. From there, I will add a UPS for power stability, external backups, and a firewall box to lock everything down.
Long term, I would love to build out a second rack in my office. For now, this DeskPi rack is the start of something that I can keep adding to, breaking, and fixing.
This is only part one. The rack will evolve a lot from here, and I will keep documenting the progress.