rHomelab

Every “self-host your subscriptions away” list makes it sound like flipping a switch. It’s not quite that simple, but for these five, the trade is genuinely worth it — the software is mature, the setup is reasonable, and you’re not sacrificing much beyond someone else being on call at 3am. 1. Immich → replaces Google Photos / iCloud Photos Immich has closed the gap with commercial photo backup faster than almost anything else in the self-hosted space. Automatic mobile backup, facial recognition, timeline view, shared albums — it’s there. The real cost isn’t the software, it’s the storage: budget for real redundancy (see: data hoarding pillar) since you’re now responsible for not losing your own photos. ...

“RAID is not a backup” gets repeated so often it’s lost meaning. Here’s the version that actually helps you pick a redundancy level instead of just feeling vaguely guilty about your array. What redundancy actually protects against Redundancy (RAID-Z1, RAID-Z2, mirrors, whatever flavor) protects against drive failure, full stop. It does not protect against: Accidental deletion (redundancy dutifully replicates your mistake) Ransomware or file corruption that writes bad data (same problem) Fire, theft, flooding, or anything that takes out the whole box at once Controller or power supply failure that kills multiple drives simultaneously That’s what backups are for, and it’s a separate problem from redundancy. This post is specifically about the “how many drives can I lose without losing data” question. ...

Every homelab thread eventually turns into a hypervisor argument. Here’s the practical version, based on what actually matters when it’s your own gear and your own time on the line. The short answer If you’re starting fresh in 2026, run Proxmox VE. It’s free, actively developed, has a real community, and does everything most home labs need — VMs, LXC containers, clustering, ZFS, and a web UI that doesn’t feel like an afterthought. The rest of this post is for the “but why” crowd. ...