Building My Home Network Lab: Networking, Virtualisation, and IT in Action.

Over the years, I’ve learned that the best way to truly understand Information Technology is through hands-on experience by building, testing, and sometimes breaking things in a controlled environment. That’s why I built my own homelab — a self-contained environment that lets me explore networking, virtualisation, storage, backups, Docker, and system monitoring. What started as a hobby has evolved into a personal data centre that mirrors enterprise environments, allowing me to learn, experiment, and refine my IT skills every single day.
I have built this lab from a combination of recycled hardware and newer equipment that anyone starting in IT, or even seasoned professionals, can access.
I began with a few Raspberry Pis and VMware Workstation on my laptop. As my needs for resources and power grew, I gradually expanded into more specialised equipment and refined my architecture.
My ongoing goal is to follow best practices while building interesting and practical projects that mimic real-world IT challenges.

I hope this inspires you to start your own lab. Let me know what your build looks like and how you’re using it to grow your skills.

Network Foundation

The backbone of any IT environment is its network. My lab runs on a 1 Gb fibre internet connection provided by Virgin Media, routed through a Unifi USG Ultra firewall and a USW Lite 8 POE switch, which serves as the central hub for all traffic and device connectivity.

To keep devices and services properly segmented, I’ve implemented several VLANs:

• VLAN 1 (Management): 192.168.1.0/27
• VLAN 50 (Office): 172.16.17.0/25
• VLAN 50 (Cameras): 192.168.1.128/25
• VLAN 50 (Guest): 192.168.1.0/25
• VLAN 100 (Home Lab): 172.16.17.128/25
• VLAN 300 (IoT): 172.16.18.0/25

This segmentation ensures that IoT devices such as TVs, smart home gadgets, phones, and game consoles are securely isolated from management, servers, and office networks. This dramatically reduces the potential attack surface.

For DNS resolution, I use dual PiHole servers with Cloudflare as the upstream DNS provider, powered by an Intel Core i5 10th Gen CPU, with 32GB of DDR4 RAM (expandable), a 500GB SATA SSD for storage, and a connection to my NAS over iSCSI. Additionally, a 250GB NVMe drive is used . This setup blocks ads, reduces unnecessary queries, and provides redundancy should one DNS service fail. In addition, I have a VPN configured for secure remote access when I’m outside the house.

Why it matters: Proper segmentation enhances security, improves overall performance, and allows me to simulate enterprise-level networking practices at home. This provides hands-on experience with designs similar to those used in professional datacenters.

Virtualization & Compute

At the heart of the lab is a Dell Micro 3080, powered by an Intel Core i5 10th Gen CPU, with 32GB of DDR4 RAM, a 500GB SATA SSD for storage, and a connection to my NAS over iSCSI. Additionally, a 250GB NVMe drive is used for system files and VM images. This machine runs Proxmox, my virtualisationcentral platform of choice, which enables me to manage multiple virtual machines efficiently. Proxmox’s flexibility, snapshot features, and clustering support make it ideal for a homelab setup.

The Dell hosts several critical VMs, including:

• Plex (media streaming for the household)
• Home Assistant (smart home automation)
• Windows Server 2019 AD (Active Directory, DNS, DHCP)
• Veeam B&R CE (backup and recovery for virtual machines)
• CentOS and Debian VMs for testing and development services

To complement this central Virtualisation node, I run an Asus Micro server as an additional compute resource, along with Zima Boards running TrueNAS for storage and lightweight VM workloads. This distributed setup adds resilience and scalability, giving me the ability to test failover and redundancy scenarios.

Why it matters: Central virtualisation makes it possible to spin up, manage, and test multiple operating systems and services without dedicated hardware for each. This approach mirrors real-world enterprise workflows, where resource efficiency and scalability are essential.

Storage & Backups

Storage is the backbone of data management. In my lab, I rely on TrueNAS running on Zima Boards, initially configured in a RAID 1 array, with plans to migrate to RAID 5 or RAID 10 as I expand storage capacity. At the moment, I have around 4TB of usable storage, with the flexibility to add more drives as needed.

This storage supports both VM disks and general file storage, including backups and shared data. For redundancy and data protection, I use Veeam Backup & Replication Community Edition to safeguard virtual machines. I also rely on snapshots and replication features built into TrueNAS for versioning and quick recovery.

Why it matters: Backups aren’t optional — they’re essential. By combining RAID, snapshots, and dedicated backup solutions, I create multiple safety nets. This layered approach ensures critical data and systems can be restored quickly after accidental deletion, corruption, or hardware failure.

Containers & Automation

Containers are a game-changer for IT professionals. My lab runs several containerised services on a Debian host, which allows me to deploy applications quickly and efficiently. Here are some of the key tools:

• Traefik → reverse proxy with SSL termination. I use this to provide secure HTTPS access to local services like my Unifi firewall, Proxmox dashboard, and other internal apps.
• Portainer → container management GUI, which makes it easier to visualisecentralised and control my containers without relying solely on command-line interfaces.
• NetAlert → network monitoring tool that checks device availability and alerts me when something drops offline.
• Uptime Kuma → service uptime monitoring with customizable notifications, ensuring I know when a service has issues.

Running these services in Docker provides scalability and agility. I can quickly spin up test applications, update them without downtime, or remove them entirely if no longer needed.

Why it matters: Containers are a critical skill for modern IT professionals. They allow rapid deployment, lightweight infrastructure, and flexibility to adapt to new demands — all while reducing overhead compared to traditional virtual machines.

Monitoring & Security

A stable homelab requires both monitoring and security. I’ve incorporated multiple tools and practices:

• NetAlert constantly monitors devices and sends alerts if something becomes unreachable.
• Uptime Kuma provides visual dashboards and notifications for service uptime and availability.
• VPN ensures that my remote access is secure, encrypting traffic and restricting entry points.
• VLAN isolation prevents IoT and guest networks from interfering with or reaching sensitive systems.

Looking ahead, I plan to integrate Grafana and Loki for centralisedvirtualisation logging, dashboards, and performance insights. Additionally, I want to implement Cloudflare Zero Trust to add an extra security layer to exposed services, enabling more granular access control.

Why it matters: Monitoring ensures reliability and keeps systems operational, while layered security measures significantly reduce risks. These practices are not only valuable for protecting my homelab but also directly apply to enterprise-grade IT environments.

What began as a small project with Raspberry Pis and a laptop has grown into a fully featured homelab — an integrated system combining networking, virtualisation, storage, automation, and security. This environment powers my household services and doubles as a learning platform that continuously sharpens my IT skills.

Homelabs are much more than hobbies; they’re personal datacenters that replicate the complexity and challenges of enterprise infrastructures. They teach resilience, adaptability, troubleshooting, and problem-solving. These skills are not just valuable for a professional IT career — they are essential.

Whether you’re new to IT or a seasoned professional, I encourage you to start your own homelab journey. It’s one of the best ways to gain practical experience, understand technology at a deeper level, and build confidence in your skills.

👉 If you’re curious about homelabs, or if you already run one yourself, I’d love to connect, exchange ideas, and hear about your setup.