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== Christian Gehlen ==
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My digital kitchen sink

/home-it

home-it self-hosting

My home network is a blend of practicality, curiosity, and mild overengineering — optimized for control, documentation, and resilience.

Philosophy

I like knowing what’s running in my environment, logging it properly, and keeping things modular and comprehensible. I document IP addresses, MACs, services, topologies, and configurations in Markdown (with diagrams via PlantUML or Draw.io).

Core Components

  • Router: Fritz!Box 7530 AX
    • Role: Gateway, Router, WiFi-AP, DHCP, Wireguard VPN Server
  • Network layout: Star topology with a mix of Ethernet and WiFi
  • Home-Server: Lenovo ThinkCentre M73 Tiny
    • Role: Docker Host, Automations, Playground for homebrewn webapps
    • Powered with Aeotec Zi-Stick for Zigbee connectivity.
  • NAS: Synology Diskstation 416play
    • Role: Data store and cold backups
  • Smart-Home Bridge: Philips Hue Bridge
    • Note: currently kind of a legacy device as I move to Zigbee2Mqtt and want to implement a cloudless smart home
  • Access Points: Currently no additional APs in use. The Fritz!Box serves a pretty good coverage in our home, basement and even large parts of our garden.

Everything with static DHCP leases, even all client devices, documented via MAC and hostname in a central .md file.

Self-hosted Applications (via Docker)

  • Traefik: Reverse Proxy to access Docker Container
  • PiHole: Central ad-blocking and DNS for local network
  • Dashy: Dashboard for my apps and services and starting page for my browser
  • Home Assistant / Zigbee2mqtt / Mosquitto: Smart Home Hub. More on /uses/home-assistant
  • Beaver Habit Tracker: A self-hostable webapp in the style of Loop Habit Tracker
  • Paperless NGX: Powerful document management - but currently not really implemented in my workflows

More about my Docker Setup under /notes/home-server-docker-setup/

DNS routing and service wiring is done with PiHole and Traefik. I described this setup unter /notes/pihole-dns-setup

Maintenance

  • Updates for both the OS and running Docker Containers are implemented as Ansible Playbooks
  • Backups from my home server happen daily with rsync as cron-job
  • All configurations on my home server are in a git-repository and versioned with every change

Documentation & Monitoring

  • All services and configs are documented in Obsidian / Markdown
  • Diagrams: PlantUML, Draw.io
  • Configuration is versioned with Git
  • Any manual maintenance task is managed with TickTick

Projects in Progress

  • Home automation ideas and troubleshooting
  • Implementing more minimalism in my setup
  • Testing Home Assistant Voice hardware to substitute “Hey Google” in our home.

I maintain this network like a mini homelab — but always with a practical mindset. No Kubernetes, no overkill. Just good Linux hygiene and solid Docker practices.

For a more cloud-based view of my infrastructure, see /vps.