My Journey

I wanted to learn more about networking and systems, and I was getting tired of relying on cloud services that keep changing or locking down features. Running things myself means I know where my data is and how it’s handled.

I started with a cheap Dell OptiPlex 3060 and ran containers like Pi-hole and Home Assistant. Setting up Pi-hole meant I could block ads across my whole network, and Home Assistant let me actually control my smart devices instead of relying on random apps and cloud accounts.

My goals were to learn new skills, self-host useful services, and make my home network more secure. I wanted to see how far I could go running things myself instead of paying for subscriptions or trusting third parties.

Configuring network interfaces in Proxmox containers was tricky. Virtualization adds a layer of complexity, and getting the right bridges and VLANs set up took a lot of trial and error. It’s not always obvious how traffic flows between virtual and physical networks until you break something and have to fix it.

I picked the Dell OptiPlex because it was cheap, small, and didn’t use much power. Later, I moved Pi-hole to a Raspberry Pi so DNS would keep working even if the OptiPlex was offline for updates or testing. The Pi is perfect for lightweight stuff and means my main server can focus on heavier workloads.

Mostly trial and error, plus a lot of searching on YouTube and Reddit. There’s no single guide for this stuff, so I just tried things, broke them, and learned by fixing them. The community is super helpful when you get stuck.