THE HOMELAB FIELD GUIDE
Your lab.
Your rules.
Build a better homelab, one good decision at a time. Practical guides and focused tools for Proxmox, networking, storage, and the infrastructure you control.
Then build the how.
01 THE TOOLBOX
A little less guesswork.
Make the numbers make sense before you make the next move.
Space for
what comes next.
Compare RAID and ZFS layouts.
Understand what your disks can hold.
Find your
place in the network.
Turn a CIDR prefix into an address plan.
Every boundary, clearly defined.
Download Time Calculator
Plan a download, upload or backup window. Calculate time or work backwards to the speed you need.
IPv6 Subnet Calculator
Understand a 128-bit prefix. Normalize addresses, find the range and preview smaller networks.
IP Range to CIDR Converter
Turn an IPv4 range into exact CIDR blocks, or get the complete range behind a prefix.
VLSM Calculator
Give each VLAN enough room. Allocate named networks by host count and check that the plan fits.
Electricity Cost Calculator
See what always-on devices and everyday appliances cost to run, using your own electricity tariff.
02 THE LAYERS
See how it all connects.
Four ways into a better understanding of your stack.
TO A WORKING SERVICE.
Proxmox
Build a host you can understand, automate, and recover. Start with the foundations, then connect storage and networking.
Networking
Make addressing, routing, and access policy explicit. Practical guides for OPNsense, MikroTik, and virtual networks.
Storage & Backup
Plan capacity, understand redundancy, and prove recovery. Disk space matters; getting your data back matters more.
Self-hosting
Run useful services on your own infrastructure, with clear deployment boundaries, private configuration, and a recovery plan.
03 THE FIELD NOTES
Good foundations. Better builds.
Your first homelab,
with a plan.
Compute, storage, networking, and a way back when something breaks.
Read the starting guideProxmox Networking: Bridges, VLANs, Bonds, and Isolation
Understand Proxmox bridge and VLAN design, avoid management lockouts, and verify routing and isolation before changing a live host.
Proxmox Backups: VZDump, PBS, and a Restore Checklist
Choose a Proxmox backup approach, account for external guest data, set retention, and verify recovery on an isolated test network.
MikroTik Firewall Chains: Input, Forward, and Output Explained
Trace router administration and routed traffic through RouterOS chains, rule order, and connection state without confusing NAT with filtering.
FOR THE THINGS YOU WANT TO BUILD
Stay curious.
Own your stack.
Start with a question.
Leave with a clearer next step.