Home Lab Chronicles: The Rise of the Container Overlord

Welcome to my home lab, where the Wi-Fi is spotty, the cables are tangled, and the dreams of self-hosting glory are alive and well.

Let's dive into my stack, where every container has a personality, and every error message feels like a personal attack. This is the story of how I went from "What's a Docker?" to "Behold, my empire of containers!" Spoiler alert: it involves a lot of coffee, a few existential crises, and at least one instance of yelling at my Device.

Monica & MySQL: The Overachieving Memory Duo

First up, Monica, the self-hosted relationship manager. Monica is like that friend who remembers everything."Hey, didn't your cousin's dog have surgery three years ago? You should check in!" Paired with MySQL, Monica is basically the Hermione Granger of my home lab—overprepared, slightly judgmental, and always there to save my socially awkward behind.

Why do I need this? Because my brain is like a RAM chip with a memory leak. Monica keeps me from accidentally wishing my boss "Happy Birthday" on Labor Day. Thanks, Monica. You're the real MVP.

Ollama & WebUI: My LLM Sidekick

Next, we have Ollama, my self-hosted large language model. Ollama is like having a mini ChatGPT in my basement, except it doesn't ghost me when I ask it to explain Kubernetes for the 47th time. The WebUI makes it easy to interact with Ollama, so I can pretend I'm a tech wizard summoning knowledge from the digital void.

Ollama's not perfect, though. Sometimes it gives me answers that are so confidently wrong, I swear it's gaslighting me. "No, Ollama, I'm pretty sure the Earth isn't flat. But thanks for the existential crisis."

Beszel: The Overbearing Hall Monitor

Meet Beszel, my resource monitoring tool. Beszel is like that one teacher who always caught you passing notes in class. "CPU usage at 95%? What are you doing, mining Ethereum or just running 47 Chrome tabs?"

Beszel doesn't just monitor— it JUDGES. And when something goes wrong, it sends me alarms like, "Hey, your server's on fire. Maybe do something about that?" Thanks, Beszel. I'll get right on that after I finish this episode of Big Bang Theory.

Ntfy: The Notification Ninja

Ntfy is my notification manager, and it's like a ninja that silently slides into my DMs with important updates. Whether it's Beszel freaking out about my server or Ollama finishing a task, Ntfy makes sure I'm in the loop.

It's also great for pranks. "Hey, your server's down!" Just kidding. But also, maybe check it? Ntfy keeps me on my toes, like a digital version of The Floor is Lava.

Immich: My Google Photos Rebellion

Immich is my self-hosted Google Photos alternative. Why let Google hoard my memories when I can hoard them myself? Immich is like a digital scrapbook, except it's stored on a server that occasionally screams for mercy.

It's also great for nostalgia trips. "Remember that time I tried to build a home lab and cried at 3 a.m.?" Yeah, Immich remembers. Thanks, Immich.

Jellyfin, Prowlarr, Radarr, Qbittorrent: The Streaming Avengers

Now we get to the crown jewels of my home lab—my self-hosted streaming platform. Jellyfin is the star of the show, serving up movies and TV shows like a digital sommelier. Prowlarr and Radarr are the dynamic duo that help me find and organize content, while Qbittorrent does the dirty work.

Together, they're like the Avengers of streaming. Jellyfin is Iron Man—flashy and reliable. Prowlarr and Radarr are Black Widow and Hawkeye—always in the background, getting stuff done. And Qbittorrent? Well, let's just say it's the Hulk. It's powerful, but you don't want to mess with it.

Portainer: The Captain of the Container Ship

Last but not least, we have Portainer, the container management tool. If my home lab were a spaceship, Portainer would be the captain's chair. It lets me manage all my Docker containers with ease, so I don't have to SSH into everything like some kind of command-line cowboy.

Portainer is the unsung hero of my setup, quietly keeping everything running while I take all the credit. Sorry, Portainer. You're the real MVP.

Why Bother with All This?

You might be wondering, "Why go through all this trouble? Isn't it easier to just use cloud services?" Sure, it might be easier, but where's the fun in that? Building a home lab is like assembling your own Avengers team. Each container has a role to play, and together, they create something greater than the sum of their parts..

Plus, there's something deeply satisfying about saying, "Oh, that? That's just my self-hosted LLM and streaming platform. No big deal."

The Dark Side of Home Labbing

Of course, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. There are times when my home lab feels like a toddler on a sugar high—unpredictable, chaotic, and prone to tantrums. Like the time I accidentally deleted a container and spent three hours trying to figure out why my server was crying. Or the time I thought it would be a good idea to update everything at once. Spoiler: It wasn't.

But hey, that's the price of being a home lab hero. For every moment of triumph, there's a moment of despair. And for every container that works perfectly, there's one that's just there to humble me.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it—my home lab stack in all its nerdy, quirky glory. It's not perfect, and sometimes it feels like I'm herding cats, but it's mine. And in a world where everything is owned by corporations, that's a pretty cool feeling..

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go check on Beszel. It's been awfully quiet, and that's never a good sign…

TL;DR: I built a home lab with Docker containers that includes a relationship manager, a self-hosted LLM, a streaming platform, and more. It's like having a tech empire in my basement, and it's equal parts fun and chaotic. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Will it take over your life? Probably. But hey, that's the price of being a home lab hero.