Free time and hobbies

Outside of work I spend a lot of time on IT. I like using my free time to try new technologies, improve my own infrastructure and apply automation in a practical way.

Homelab

In my homelab I experiment with infrastructure, virtualization and storage. I use it as a learning environment to better understand technologies and safely test ideas before applying them more broadly.

  • Proxmox: virtualization, test environments and virtual machine management.
  • TrueNAS: storage, datasets, shares and reliable storage.
  • Linux: administration, troubleshooting and running services in my own environments.

Infrastructure as Code

I find it interesting to make infrastructure reproducible and maintainable. That is why I use tools in my homelab that I also use frequently in my work.

  • Ansible: configuration management, automation and repeatable server setup.
  • Terraform: describing, managing and consistently building infrastructure.
  • Git: tracking changes and managing configurations in a structured way.

What runs in my homelab

My homelab consists of multiple self-hosted services that I manage with Ansible playbooks and reusable roles. This allows me to install, configure, update and restore services consistently.

Infrastructure and management

  • Proxmox Backup Server: backups and restore options for my environment.
  • Guacamole: remote access to systems through the browser.
  • Forgejo: self-hosted Git server for repositories, configuration and homelab code.
  • PostgreSQL and Redis: databases and caching for several applications.
  • Docker: base layer for containerized applications.

Network, security and monitoring

  • AdGuard Home: DNS filtering and network-wide ad/tracker blocking.
  • Frigate: video surveillance and camera analysis in combination with a TPU, tensor processing unit.
  • Home Assistant: automations, dashboards and integrations for home automation.

Media, documents and personal cloud

  • Nextcloud: personal cloud storage.
  • Immich: self-hosted photo and video management.
  • Paperless: digital document management and archiving.
  • Plex: media server for my own media.

Home automation

I also work on home automation with Home Assistant. This combines several interests: sensors, integrations, dashboards, automations and reliable local systems.

  • Building automations for daily routines.
  • Connecting devices and sensors in Home Assistant.
  • Creating dashboards to keep status and controls clear.
  • Learning how systems work together reliably in a real environment.

What this gives me

My homelab helps me keep actively developing my technical knowledge. It makes abstract topics concrete: network configuration, storage, monitoring, automation, security and operations become things I can test, improve and document every day.