When it comes to optimizing home network infrastructure, the choice of hardware and software plays a pivotal role. I recently embarked on a project to elevate my home network using a fanless mini PC and the robust capabilities of OPNsense. Here’s a detailed journey of how I turned a compact, silent mini PC into a…
Category: Tech, but personal
Ansible – Make Any Linux Distro Yours Using Ansible
During my consumption of tech YouTube content, I came across a video talking about Ansible Pull. I am familiar with Ansible, so I queue it up. As soon as I finished the video this project came to mind. I know a lot of Linux desktop users use git to store their rc files and config…
My new favorite HomeLab Dashboard – Homarr
Before diving into the tutorial, let me explain a bit about Homarr. As of my last update, Homarr is a web application that allows users to control and manage smart home devices. It’s often deployed using Docker, a containerization platform, and Portainer, a user-friendly Docker management tool. The process typically involves setting up containers, configuring…
Freezing Your PI
After purchasing a new Raspberry PI 4 (8GB), I wanted to ensure I’d get the full performance out of this little device. So what would be best to do than keeping it nice and cool? That’s right, a mini little cute fan that goes with it. I’ve done some research and found the best solution…
Empowering Data Security: Harnessing Syncthing for Seamless PC and Server Backups
In today’s digital age, safeguarding our valuable data has become paramount. Losing essential files or experiencing system failures can be devastating. Fortunately, I discovered an excellent solution that seamlessly synchronizes data between my PC and the main server: Syncthing. In this article, I will share my experience and guide you through setting up Syncthing as…
Installing PHP 5.6 (because of reasons…)
Now, if you’re in the same boat as me, and have an old website database that’s been offline for more than 10 years, you will probably run into all sorts of issues recovering the data and re-establishing your website. 15 years ago I created a website for an online community, with a forum and all…
Replacing failed disks and repairing a degraded pool.
Well, it was bound to happen, folks! One of my drives died! After building a storage server, I installed TrueNAS Scale, which was virtualized on Proxmox and I proceeded to build a large drive pool, made out of 20 HDDs. At the time, I was unaware that two Vdevs would be better for this type…
Simple measures for better network security v2 – VLANs, VPN & Password Manager.
As I promised in my last post about network security, I am now back with a follow-up blog post about more steps you could take in securing your home network. You can check my last post on this subject @ https://mariusserbanica.co.uk/2023/02/03/simple-measures-for-better-network-security-ssh/ In today’s connected world, having a secure home network is essential to keep your…
Deploying and Self-hosting my own Cloud Service
Today I wanted to share with you my experience setting up my own cloud server using Nextcloud, as an alternative to Google Drive and OneDrive. As someone who values privacy and control over my data, I decided to take matters into my own hands and create my own cloud storage solution. Since I already own…
Retro Gaming on a Raspberry PI 2
Howdy hardware enthusiasts! I’m excited to share with you my latest project: transforming a Raspberry Pi into a retro gaming console using RetroPie as the emulating operating system. The last time I wrote about a Raspberry was when I converted a Raspberry PI 1 into a local DNS Server and Self Hosted AdBlocker via Pi-Hole…