Homelab on Ops & Obfuscation

The Panic of the Void: Rescuing 26 Years of Family Memories from a Raid Array

nothanks@donttalkto.me (Corey) — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I had one server that was an all-rounder. It ran Debian and served as my main storage and Docker workhorse. It had been running constantly since my early days of college. Best practices need not apply.

Times changed and Proxmox became my primary workhorse. I migrated the others over, moved all the services that I could, and I was left with one stubborn service that I was hesitant to pull the plug on. That service was Immich.

Deploying Umami Analytics and Integrating it into Hugo

nothanks@donttalkto.me (Corey) — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR

Deployed a Debian cloud image on Proxmox. Used Ansible to update the VM and install Docker. Deployed Umami via Docker Compose behind a Cloudflare Tunnel. Configured Umami and embedded the Umami tracking pixel into this Hugo blog.

Intro

I’m a bit of a digital privacy nut. I do what I can - often imperfectly - to guard my digital privacy and that of others. Those who know me in real life know I have a visceral reaction to the voluntary disclosure of personally identifiable information (PII).

Bell Home Hub 4000: DMZ vs PPPoE Passthrough (What Actually Works)

nothanks@donttalkto.me (Corey) — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR

If you’re looking for easy, do Advanced DMZ. If you’re looking for stable, do PPPoE.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you may attempt a complete bypass at your own discretion.

Intro

If you’ve been doing any networking at all outside of the basic functionality that your Bell Home Hub 4000 (HH4K) provides, you’ll quickly notice that while there are options, they’re not great ones.

UniFi WiFi Multi-SSID & Roaming with Cisco PoE+ Switches & Self-Hosted Controller

nothanks@donttalkto.me (Corey) — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Setting the stage

Many people pick up their new UniFi access points for their home, starry-eyed with dreams of roaming and multiple SSIDs, allowing fast and segregated WiFi for all their needs.

Then reality sets in. You go to plug in your access points and realize you’ve got no ports left on your ISP router. Fine, go on Amazon and purchase your $20 8-port switch.

Bell Home Hub 4000 PPPoE Passthrough on OPNSense

nothanks@donttalkto.me (Corey) — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

My favorite protocol that sounds like it has a stutter is on the menu for today’s post. We’ll be discussing my migration from using the Bell Home Hub 4000 (HH4K) in Advanced DMZ mode to expose my OPNSense VM to the internet, to using PPPoE passthrough instead.

TL;DR

1. Get your PPPoE credentials.

2. Plug your router into one of the HH4K ports.

3. Create a PPPoE device interface and enter your credentials.

Lab Writeup Series: 2025 Update

nothanks@donttalkto.me (Corey) — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

It’s been a while. New lab, new me.

A lot has changed, but I’m still at it. The lab keeps growing.

In fits and starts, I stumble forward toward something resembling a home datacenter.

To those who have read my previous posts about my lab, just know that it’s a work in progress, and there’s always something new going on. This iteration is much prettier than the previous one.

Intro

Above is a simplified view of the physical network topology for my home. The bulk of the networking happens across these devices. This is a family household of roughly 10 ± 2 people, most of whom are heavy users of internet-connected devices. One other person and I work from home and rely on a rock-solid internet connection for Zoom.

Website Deployment via Gitea Actions

nothanks@donttalkto.me (Corey) — Sat, 14 Dec 2024 01:29:44 -0500

As you might have guessed.

I made this site using Hugo.

But you didn’t expect me to take the easy way of deploying it, did you? This had to be a bloggable opportunity. I needed to learn something. I had to cry over it for at least an hour before it was deemed worthy for my blog.

So, I guess this calls for:

DEVOPS

Which means DEVOPS TOOLS.

With which, things can be OVER ENGINEERED.

Lab Writeup Series: Services

nothanks@donttalkto.me (Corey) — Thu, 28 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Intro

The real fun starts when we discuss the services I host. That’s partly because the number fluctuates constantly. I’ll add new services as I find them and remove them when I find something better or get bored with it. I’m always looking for new tools and platforms to use and to learn from.

In all honesty, I hope to find that one docker compose up that’ll change my life and make me infinitely better at what I do. I doubt that day will ever come, but a guy can dream.

Lab Writeup Series: Virtual Machines

nothanks@donttalkto.me (Corey) — Thu, 28 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Intro

My homelab consists of just a couple of virtual machines for now. As I document my projects, I’ll record how dramatically that number changes over time. The means by which I’ve set up the hypervisor has been recorded for your viewing pleasure in the previous lab writeups.

The setup at a glance

My primary hypervisor is the Dell PowerEdge R720XD, and you can read more about the hardware here. The gist is as follows.

Lab Writeup Series: Hardware

nothanks@donttalkto.me (Corey) — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This is my lab

It’s not much, but it’s mine. I got it piece by piece, at great discount to my wallet, and at great cost to my sanity.

Come along as we explore the Jank.

I call this the maw of the beast. It screams like a banshee and spews hot air.

The Switch

Image retrieved from https://www.vibrant.com/Cisco-WS-C3750G-24TS-S.html

Now, this is what it looks like off the shelf, but how does it look in my lab? Behold my spaghetti.