Introduction

I wouldn't say I've been homelabbing for a long time, but I definitely have had a personal server setup for several years now. When I started back in 2018, I was 13 and just getting into computers and networking — and my dad had a spare laptop lying around. Fast forward to today, and my homelab has evolved significantly (and grown a lot). I'd like to share the current state of my setup, the tools I use, and why I find it so rewarding.

My first server was a repurposed HP ProBook 440 G3. It had an Intel Core i5-6200U, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB Hard Drive. I installed TrueNAS Core on it (then known as FreeNAS) to create a simple NAS for my projects. I also used to host a few jails (think "FreeBSD equivalent to Docker containers") with services like qBittorrent and Plex Media Server. I kept this setup for about three years (with some external drives for extra storage later on), until about high school.

Getting Into Homelabbing

Around 2021, I started using my gaming PC less and less. I hadn't had lots of time to play games, but letting it sit idle felt like a waste. Instead, I decided to repurpose it as a server; since it had an AMD Ryzen 5 2600, a 5700 XT, 16GB of RAM, and a 2TB hard drive. I grabbed a flash drive and installed UnRAID on it — this was a game-changer. UnRAID's flexibility allowed me to add more storage easily, and since it's based on Linux, I could run Docker containers and VMs without hassle.

I had no idea what Docker was back then, but I quickly learned the ropes. I installed containers left and right; from Pihole, to Syncthing, to BorgBackup. I even set up a Cloudflared tunnel to access my services remotely. Over time, I added more drives, more RAM, and several dozen containers.

Eventually, I realized that server-mimas (as I named it, after one of Saturn's moons) was getting very bogged down with all the services I was running — this many containers on a measily Ryzen 5 2600 wasn't ideal. Thus, in 2024, came the next evolution.

Mini PCs To The Rescue

Amidst the Mini PC craze, I managed to pick up three GMKtec NucBox G3 Plus units. Each came with an Intel N150 chip, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB NVMe SSD. While not the most powerful, I figured they would be perfect for offloading some of the lighter-but-abundant services from server-mimas. I set up two of them as Debian 13 servers, and the third as a Proxmox VE host (I wanted to get into learning Kubernetes). It was around this time that a friend of mine gifted me an old server rack, so I 3D printed some mounts and set everything up neatly.

cluster-chronos ("time" in Greek) is the Proxmox host, cluster-tempus ("time" in Latin) hosts non-essential services like media servers and game servers (with an external 8TB HDD), and cluster-jikan ("time" in Japanese) runs essential services like Chhoto, n8n, and my DDNS updater (as well as the API server for this website!). I use Tailscale to connect them all securely over WireGuard, and I have a Cloudflared tunnel for remote access running through Uptime Kuma on cluster-jikan.

A year later, Christmas 2025 rolled around, and I treated myself to a new Mini PC server — a barebones AceMagic M1 with a Intel Core i9-13900HK (woah!), which I upgraded to 16GB of RAM and a 512GB NVMe SSD. This beast, named server-enceladus (after another moon of Saturn), now handles the heavy processing tasks (such as Handbrake for transcoding gameplay with my girlfriend) and is the actual lab part of my homelab — it's also a Debian 13 server, and runs my more experimental services, like some data-processing-heavy workflows and databases.

Now that I have so many service-running machines to replace server-mimas, it can finally focus on what it's supposed to do: storage. The only service running on it is Immich (a self-hosted photo management solution). Now, I don't have to waste my precious redundant disk space on unimportant data like Jellyfin media.

The Backup Strategy

...well, in reality, server-mimas doesn't only run Immich. It also hosts my BorgServer instance, which is my primary backup target for all my other servers. Each server (as well as my laptop) runs BorgBackup clients that back up to server-mimas over SSH. I have a daily backup schedule; and I keep 7 dailies, 4 weeklies, 12 monthlies, and infinite yearly backups (in case you haven't noticed, I'm a data hoarder).

Additionally, I repurposed an old OrangePi 4 LTS I had lying around as an offsite backup target. It runs Armbian and also hosts a BorgServer instance on its 14 TB external drive. Every night, server-mimas pushes a backup to the OrangePi over SSH using Tailscale. This way, I fulfill the 3-2-1 backup rule: three copies of my data, on two different media, with one offsite.

I'm in the process of building a decent-looking chassis for the OrangePi and its drive, so it can sit nicely on my shelf:

My Software Stack

Here's a quick overview of the main software I use across my homelab:

• server-mimas (UnRAID):
  • Immich (photo management)
  • BorgServer (backup target)
  • Borgmatic (backup client)
• cluster-chronos (Proxmox VE):
  • Three Debian 13 VMs for learning Kubernetes
• cluster-tempus (Debian 13):
  • ~/services/games
    • Terraria Server
    • Minecraft Server
  • ~/services/media
    • Jellyfin
    • qBittorrent
    • SABnzbd
    • Ahem... Linux ISO finders
  • ~/services/privacy
    • invidious
• cluster-jikan (Debian 13):
  • ~/services/essential
    • PostgreSQL
    • Cloudflare DDNS
    • Nginx Reverse Proxy Manager
    • Uptime Kuma
    • Chhoto URL shortener
    • LibreSpeed
    • Adguard Home
    • n8n (workflow automation)
    • Forgejo (This website's Git server!)
    • marvil.co API server
  • ~/services/hosting
    • My clients' websites and API servers
• server-enceladus (Debian 13):

Conclusion

My homelab has come a long way since that first HP ProBook. It's been a fantastic learning experience; teaching me about Linux, networking, Docker, virtualization, and backup strategies, plus I love tinkering with new technologies and optimizing my setup. Also, having my own infrastructure gives me a sense of independence and control over my data.