My homelab has 7 VLANs and a disaster recovery plan. My family just wants Netflix to work.

Recently finished putting together a little 10” rack for my homelab/network and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

The setup is basically split between two machines:
Main server: An old Lenovo ThinkServer running Unraid. It handles storage, Plex and the *Arr stack, Home Assistant, Grafana/Prometheus, backups, and the usual assortment of Docker containers that somehow become “critical infrastructure.”

Infrastructure server: An $81 Dell OptiPlex Micro running Debian. It handles AdGuard, the self-hosted UniFi controller, Uptime Kuma, Tailscale, monitoring, etc. The idea was to keep enough infrastructure off the main server that I can still figure out what broke when the main server goes down.

Networking is Google Fiber → UXG-Max → USW-Lite-16-PoE, with a few additional switches and APs around the house. I’ve somehow accumulated 7 VLANs for Infrastructure, Trusted, Kids, Media, IoT, Servers, and Guest.

The little rack holds the UXG-Max, keystone panel, switch, and infrastructure server. The USB-C keystone for the UXG power cable may be my favorite completely unnecessary detail.

Everything important is backed up locally and encrypted offsite, because apparently my $81 OptiPlex requires a disaster recovery strategy.
The goal has always been simple for the family, robust when something breaks, and reasonably easy for me to maintain.

Naturally, accomplishing “simple” required two servers, seven VLANs, redundant DNS, monitoring, alerting, offsite backups, and a self-hosted network controller.

Today’s gateway upgrade also taught me that no amount of network architecture can protect you from plugging a cable into the wrong port.
Twice.

Anyway, I’m calling it finished.
There are still empty ports, though, so that’s obviously a lie.