behind the jokes

The actual homelab, built in public

One used 1-litre PC, set up to run the everyday tools at home: documents, recipes, budgets, media, backups. The goals are to keep it cheap, keep it quiet on the power bill, and learn networking properly along the way. This page tracks the real build.

Build progress

The build runs as dependency-ordered tickets. Prep work happens before the machine arrives.

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      How it fits together

      The planned layout once the machine is set up. Nothing is exposed directly to the internet.

      Everything plugs straight into the ISP router, so there is no double NAT and phones reach the server directly. Requests for *.homeprod.casa resolve inside the house through either DNS server. Away from home, Tailscale's split DNS sends the same names through the tunnel, so no port is ever opened to the internet.

      Hardware

      Used, small, and cheap to run.

      homelab server Lenovo ThinkCentre M710q
      CPU
      Core i5-7500
      RAM
      16 GB
      Disks
      512 GB NVMe + 500 GB SSHD
      State
      bought, arriving
      backups + backup DNS Dell OptiPlex 3020
      CPU
      Core i3
      RAM
      8 GB DDR3
      Runs
      second DNS, backup server
      State
      on its way
      print + scan Epson EcoTank ET-2860
      Link
      wired to the server
      State
      checking Linux support
      later: local AI Desktop PC
      GPU
      RTX 3070, 8 GB
      RAM
      32 GB
      State
      after the homelab

      House rules

      The decisions every ticket gets checked against.

      Dirt cheap

      Used office hardware, free software, and no subscription unless it replaces a bigger one.

      Low power

      A 1-litre PC that idles at a few watts, not a rack that heats the flat.

      Private by default

      Reachable at home and over Tailscale. No port forwarding on the router, ever.

      Encrypted at rest

      Both drives are encrypted. Secrets in the repo are encrypted with SOPS and age.

      Backups get restored

      Nightly local backups, an off-site copy, and a scheduled restore test. A backup nobody has restored doesn't count.

      Everything as code

      Compose stacks and Ansible playbooks live in git, Semaphore runs them, and Renovate keeps versions moving.

      What it costs to leave on

      Running cost for a box that never turns off. Change the numbers to match your own meter and tariff.

      €0per year · 0 kWh

      The defaults are estimates: around 10 W is typical for a 1-litre PC near idle, and €0.15/kWh is a placeholder tariff. Measure with a plug meter once the machine is running.

      Every ticket

      Snapshot of the build board