Since the initial build, the homelab has expanded significantly and several systems now serve production roles in my daily workflow.
Current Hardware
The rack currently includes:
- DeskPi 8U Rackmate T1
- Netgear GS308E managed switch
- GeeekPi patch panel
- Tupavco PDU
- ZimaBoard 2
- Beelink mini PC running Proxmox VE
- Beelink SER9 Pro
- Two WD 8 TB 3.5 inch HDDs
- Raspberry Pi 4Bs
- Raspberry Pi CM5 with Ethernet hat
- Nintendo Switch
The rack now functions as a NAS, virtualization host, container environment, and general infrastructure platform.
ZimaBoard 2 NAS and Utility Services
The ZimaBoard 2 became the primary utility server in the rack.
Current services running on the ZimaBoard:
- Pi-hole
- Tailscale
- NAS storage
- Internal utility services
Storage is configured using two WD 8 TB hard drives in RAID0.
Current NAS usage includes:
- VM storage
- Docker volumes
- Local backups
- ISO storage
- Research datasets
- General file storage
The long term plan is to add dedicated backup targets and additional storage redundancy.
Proxmox and Docker Infrastructure
The original Beelink mini PC continues running Proxmox VE and serves as the primary virtualization and container host.
Current workloads include:
- Docker containers
- Linux VMs
- Security tooling
- Internal services
- Testing environments
An upcoming project for the rack is a fully self hosted breach lookup and intelligence platform. That infrastructure is still being developed and will require separate documentation due to the storage, indexing, and security considerations involved.
Beelink SER9 Pro Workstation
The Beelink SER9 Pro replaced my previous desktop and now serves as my primary workstation.
Specifications:
32 GB RAM
1 TB SSD
Ryzen AI processor
The system currently handles:
- Development work
- Containers
- Virtualization
- General daily usage
- Infrastructure management
Networking and Remote Access
Networking remains the largest area of focus in the homelab.
Current areas being worked on include:
- DNS management
- Reverse proxies
- Routing
- Remote access
- VLAN planning
- Service isolation
- Internal infrastructure segmentation
Tailscale currently handles secure remote access into the rack without exposing services directly to the public internet.
Additional Hardware
The Nintendo Switch is also hardwired into the rack since the setup sits directly below my desk and TV.
I also picked up a Raspberry Pi CM5 with an Ethernet hat, although it has not been integrated into the rack yet. Possible future use cases include:
- Monitoring
- Lightweight services
- Management infrastructure
- Network tooling
Future Plans
Planned additions and projects include:
- Dedicated firewall appliance
- Wazuh SIEM
- Grafana monitoring
- Automated backups
- VLAN segmentation
- Additional Docker infrastructure
- Self hosted threat intelligence tooling
- Local AI experimentation
The overall direction of the homelab is moving toward a more structured self hosted environment focused on virtualization, monitoring, storage, cybersecurity research, and infrastructure management.