Why I Built It

My home lab gives me a place to learn by running real services rather than only reading about them. It is an ongoing environment where I can practise Linux administration, networking, deployment and security without risking production systems.

What It Runs

The lab is built around a Raspberry Pi and Docker. Its services include:

• network-wide DNS filtering with AdGuard Home;
• services restricted behind VPN access;
• Nginx for routing and serving web applications;
• custom dashboards for accessing and managing services; and
• SMB file sharing for devices on the local network.

Security Focus

The useful part of a home lab is not simply getting services to run. I use it to think about which systems should be reachable, how access should be restricted, how containers and services communicate, and how failures can be diagnosed safely.

The environment gives me practical experience with:

• Linux system administration;
• Docker-based deployment;
• DNS and local networking;
• VPN-gated access;
• service hardening and exposure reduction; and
• maintaining self-hosted systems over time.

What I Am Learning

Operating the lab has made me more comfortable troubleshooting across application, container, operating-system and network layers. It is deliberately an ongoing project: I continue to improve the architecture, add useful services and use it as a safe environment for security experimentation.