A hands-on tech blog by a developer who builds, breaks, and documents real self-hosted infrastructure — so you don’t have to figure it all out from scratch.
Here you’ll find practical guides on running services in Docker and Proxmox, managing storage with OpenMediaVault and ZFS, building smart home automations with Home Assistant and ESPHome, and wiring up custom hardware with ESP32 boards, sensors, and displays.
Every post is written the way I wish I’d found it: exact configs, honest troubleshooting notes, and clear explanations of why things are set up this way — not just how.
What you’ll find here
🖥️ Self-Hosted Services — Deploying and securing Bitwarden, Nextcloud, Jellyfin, qBittorrent, and more in Docker containers on home servers.
🔧 Proxmox & Storage — Installing Proxmox VE, ZFS pools, LXC containers, backups, WireGuard VPN, and SMART monitoring with Scrutiny.
🏠 Home Assistant & ESPHome — Dashboards, automations, LVGL touch displays, CrowdSec security, Zigbee devices, and custom integrations.
⚡ Hardware & DIY — ESP32 projects, TDS/flow sensors, OpenWrt routers, 3D printing, and real-world wiring experiments.
📡 Networking & Security — Nginx Proxy Manager, Cloudflare, reverse proxies, SSL, VPN access, and intrusion detection.
All guides are tested on real hardware, written with real mistakes included, and designed to save you time. Browse the blog archive or check out the tools page.