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Tim Schaller
DE

Setup

My hardware, my homelab and the stuff I use every day.

Homelab

  • Virtualization

    Proxmox cluster on four low-power mini PCs. Wherever I can, I use LXC containers instead of VMs

  • Storage

    A NAS for documents and backups

  • Network

    UniFi with VLANs, so the network at home is properly locked down too.

  • Power

    UPS with a shutdown manager I built myself. If the power goes out, the cluster shuts down cleanly

  • Backups

    Backups to the NAS every night, plus an encrypted copy in the cloud

Smart home

  • Hub

    Home Assistant with my own dashboards, wall displays, ESP32 and so on. Right now I'm building my own interface for it with PixelHome

  • Wireless

    Matter for lights and sensors. Everything runs locally, no cloud needed

  • Cameras

    Recording and object detection, also fully local

Hobbies

  • 3D printer

    Bambu Lab

  • Microcontrollers

    ESP32, including "CYD" (Cheap Yellow Display) boards

Software

  • Claude Code

    What I build my projects with, this website included.

  • Tools

    Git, Docker, PlatformIO

EDC – Every Day Carry

  • iPhone

    Always connected to the homelab over VPN, so I know what's going on at home

  • Plaud Note Pro

    So I can actually listen in meetings instead of taking notes the whole time.

  • YubiKey 5C NFC

    My second factor for everything. Kept separate from the password manager, so not everything hangs on one thing.

How it all fits together

My homelab in layers, from the outside in. Pick a scenario and watch what happens.

InternetYou, your phone, a bot
Router & firewallZone firewall, only allowed ports get in
Reverse proxyHTTPS with automatic certificates
Bouncerblocks suspicious addresses automatically
Loginone login for everything, with a second factor
My networkPCs, servers, phones
Smart homeown network for cloud devices
Camerasown network, no internet at all
Guestsinternet yes, my network no
Proxmox clusterfour mini PCs, services in containers
Notebook nodeown battery, runs the important stuff
Tie-breakerif a machine dies, the majority decides
NASdocuments, backups
Cloud backupencrypted copy off-site
UPSbattery for servers, NAS and network
Watchdogscheck around the clock, report via Telegram

Request from outside

  1. Someone opens one of my pages from outside.
  2. The firewall only lets through what I explicitly allowed.
  3. If the address acts weird (scans, too many attempts), it gets blocked right here.
  4. The reverse proxy handles HTTPS and knows which service is meant.
  5. Without a login and a second factor, it stops here.
  6. Only then does the request reach the service, in its own container.

Power outage

  1. The power is gone. The UPS takes over instantly, nothing turns off.
  2. The watchdogs notice and send me a message.
  3. When the battery runs low, my shutdown manager brings the servers down cleanly, in the right order.
  4. The notebook has its own battery and keeps running. So Home Assistant stays up.
  5. When the power is back, everything starts up again by itself.

Backup night

  1. At night the containers and VMs get backed up.
  2. The backups land on the NAS.
  3. From there an encrypted copy leaves the house. If the apartment burns down, the data is still there.
  4. If a backup fails, a watchdog speaks up.

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