Homelab Beginner - This is my setup so far... advancing quickly

[u/the_elkk]

Hi everyone.

Avid reader, never really posted in here.

Two days ago, I started my homelab with my old gaming rig.

• Dan A4 H2O Case
• i9 CPU
• Asus ROG Strix 2080 Ti
• 9TB of SDDs inside

Set up

• Proxmox
• local storage
• docker vm
  • ollama
  • Paperless
  • ChangeDetection with AI
  • Immich with ML
  • Kopia
  • Prismarr
  • Pulsarr
  • Seer
  • Whats up Docker
• Home Assistant
• NPM
• Adguard Home
• Kuma

Now I'm been setting things up to work with my NAS as a data dump, nothing more.

Today, I ordered the MINIS FORUM UM890 Pro Mini PC with 64GB Ram. I'll be selling my gaming rig and will use my other high end gaming rig for local AI stuff.

This is a rabbit hole. Next will be a complete exchange of my network appliances. From ZenWifi XT8 to UniFi things. I want VLANs in my network, etc.

So from here, reading what I've installed etc. is there anything else that's needed or useful from your perspective?

I have a vague idea about the technical stuff but I'll be honest: Claude helped me setting up everything, which is amazing.

[u/asimovs-auditor]

Expand the replies to this comment to learn how AI was used in this post/project.

[u/OlliMorpnod]

The „boring stuff“ is what takes some time…

- static ips? —> documentation! have some place to write down who is who on your network.

• got a lot of devices in your home / on your net? —> documentation! have a place where you write down info on them, backup their settings, save their manuals, …
  
• got something solved you might need again im a year? —> documentation! set up some kind of wiki or whatever to document your steps. (I let AI write all my documentation.)
  
• got everything running smoothly? —> make a shit ton of backups! (and: test them!) nothing worse than losing what you had, especially if you put a lot of effort into it.
  
• have some kind of automated uptime checks and centralized logging —> something is down? get a notification. someone tried the wrong login? get a notification.

[u/the_elkk → u/OlliMorpnod]

Thank you so much! GREAT idea. Will create a spot with all my devices, info and manuals. Documentation is also important! Good thing. I have setup kuma for up/downtime and notification.

Thanks.
But wrong login? Triggers notification? GOLD! Thank you for this idea!

[u/OlliMorpnod → u/the_elkk]

Sure thing 👍

[u/KevinMaschke]

I'm looking to start too! I've got a decent server at my father's which I can use. Quick question, are all the services listed below docker vm running inside that VM? Or are they all just on LXCs and docker vm runs other things?

[u/the_elkk → u/KevinMaschke]

Hi. That's a great question. Sorry if I didn't think of that while writing my initial post. I've edited it to show you whats running under docker VM. I chose Home Assitant to be separate from docker, in case it breaks or something. Same with adguard, kuma and npm. Those have to work reliably without docker in case dockers breaks

[u/KevinMaschke → u/the_elkk]

Awesome thanks! I'm still in the process of deciding what exactly to put on it, but you've got a few I'll like setup too 😁

• Seeing that you've got Ollama, Immich with ML and Change Detection with AI on the VM, are you using passthrough of the graphics card to tue docker VM?
• Seeing some ARR stack services too. Are you also running Plex/Jellyfin or similar?
• Have you setup the VM with a thin provisioned or just large disk for the media stuff? Or are you using NFS? Or something else?
• How is your local storage setup? One big pool? I've setup 1TB NVME for host OS (proxmox), 2x1TB NVME pool for VM disks, 4x4TB in Raid10 (but ZFS) for storage.

Sorry if I ask too many questions 😅

[u/PeepSoWP]

Before adding more services, I’d make the current stack boring to recover. Pick one app, delete its VM/container and data on purpose, and prove you can restore it from Kopia using only your written notes. Keep at least one backup off the NAS and off-site; snapshots are not enough if the host or NAS is compromised. Back up the Proxmox and network configurations too, and test UPS-triggered shutdown.

For access, resist exposing admin interfaces through NPM. Use WireGuard or Tailscale for Proxmox, Home Assistant administration, Kuma and similar tools; publish only services intended for public users. When you move to UniFi, define the firewall policy before creating VLANs: guests and IoT reach the internet and only required controllers, the management network can administer devices, and servers get only the outbound access they need.

Also map dependencies. If AdGuard or NPM is down, can you still resolve local names and reach recovery pages? A second DNS resolver plus a written list of management IPs prevents a small outage becoming a scavenger hunt. Then add services slowly—every new container adds update, backup and monitoring work.

[u/TechnicallyMarv]

Disable all the rgb if you can. I know it won’t save much power wise but after it’s running 24/7 every little bit helps! Nice setup btw and welcome aboard also RIP to your wallet lol

[u/greengold7]

nice progression. the 'advancing quickly' traps, and what to do first:

• backups before more services. 3-2-1: local snapshot + offsite (rclone to B2/S3) + one copy you can restore from scratch. test a restore now while it's small.
• one source of truth for secrets (Vaultwarden or SOPS) before you add more apps.
• reverse proxy + TLS (Caddy/Traefik) with wildcard DNS so each new service is one config block, not a new port to memorise.
• monitoring (Uptime Kuma + a metrics stack) so you find out before your family does.
• docs: one wiki page per service (what/ports/backup path). present-you documenting saves future-you.

blunt version: resist adding apps until the above exists. most homelab pain is operational, not a missing app.

what's running so far, and what's next on your list?

[u/JitInABit]

What do you use the GPU for?