MATT HELD TECH
  • Home
  • Projects
    • Homelab
    • Home Theater Rack
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • My Professional Portfolio
  • Home
  • Projects
    • Homelab
    • Home Theater Rack
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • My Professional Portfolio
Search

The Homelab

Welcome to my Homelab. ​With the exception of a few items this was fully pieced together using used or open box products.

The Homelab is an always in progress project. New additions, modifications, and upgrades often appear. 

Explore the image and description layout of the rack below:
*better photos coming soon!

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
CradlePoint AER2200-1200M-B - (used as 4G/5G modem with Verizon)
This provides a backup WAN in case AT&T Fiber goes down. It also provides a secondary internet connection directly to a computer so I can still access services remotely if the primary goes down, and failover didn't occur correctly. 

Thor Digital Encoder/Modulator:
This is an older model compared to the other Thor modulators that use. I got this one at a great price used so hoping to get it working soon. 

HDHomeRun HDHR5-4US Connect Quatro 4 Channel Tuner​ (2x)
One of these is used for internal channels. The other one was used for antenna channels, but due to our horrible antenna reception, we are now using an HDHomeRun PRIME (not pictured) with a cable card. 

HHN-RK-VZW-001 (Some random industrial PC)
​Not sure on the model of this one but it is simply in place for access in case of my primary router failing. It has a 2 WAN connections one for AT&T Fiber and the other for CradlePoint with the 4G LTE from Verizon. 

2 Thor HDMI to RF Coax Modulators
These feed the RF signal via Coax into an HDHomerun, which adds custom channels into our TV infrastructure. More on that to come... keep reading!


_________________________________________________________
Spectrum HD Cable Box (aka Bally Sports Box)
Well... When Fox Sports moved to Sinclair and became Bally Sports, Sinclair Broadcast Group decided to put DRM on their Bally Sports TVE channel (just EVIL). This makes the channel not work with my TV infrastructure.  So I am feeding a constantly playing cable box (set on Bally Sports channel) into an Thor HDMI to RF modulator. Not the best solution in the world but it works considering the alternatives. We watch Bally Sports enough that this is worth it. 


_________________________________________________________
Raspberry Pi Mount #1:
Contains 4 Raspberry Pi 4's.
These run TinyPilot. TinyPilot is amazing software that turns your Raspberry Pi into an IP KVM. 
Here is what they control:

TinyPilot #1:
Connected to my Mac Mini (2012).

TinyPilot #2:
Connected to my Mac Mini M1 (2021).

TinyPilot #3:
Connected to old MacBook for Apple Content Caching.

TinyPilot #4:
Connected to Dell PowerEdge R410.

​
​Raspberry Pi Mount #2:

Channels DVR Server (primary):
This runs the Channels DVR Server. Channels DVR configures TVE (via Spectrum Cable) and Over the Air (OTA) channels to be accessed via the Channels app on Apple TV. Each TV in our home has an Apple TV attached to it. This also provides the ability to record content either from TVE or OTA. This cuts the cost of Spectrum service greatly as you do not need to pay for cable boxes. 

Channels DVR Server (secondary):
I can fail over to this if needed.

Cacti: (being replaced by Zabbix eventually)
This is a network monitoring tool. The feature I am currently using is based on Ping. It pings specified network devices to track uptime and let me know if the device or service goes offline. It also creates uptime graphs and supports a plethora of more features that I hope to learn in the future!

1 Raspberry Pi for future use.

Raspberry Pi Mount #2:

DakBoard DSP1:
This provides a dashboard (family photos, WiFi login info, etc.) via DakBoard. The HDMI output of the Raspberry Pi is then modulated to RF Coax and sent to a HDHomerun, which then combines the channel (2.1) with our other standard TV channels. 

Free PBX:
This runs the FreePBX phone system. It is currently hosting Lenny (Learn more: www.lennytroll.com). If you would like to talk to Lenny just call: 262-436-1486

Docker:
This runs my primary Docker instance (moving this to a VM). Still learning docker but this is an 8GB RAM Raspberry Pi Model 4B+ so it has some power to run lots of containers in the future!

Docker (secondary):
For a future project... stay tuned!

​
​_________________________________________________________
Dell Servers:

Dell PowerEdge R710
ESXi Server running the following VMs:

>Windows 10
"Limited access account with kiosk configuration" used for accessing Hallmark Card Studio via RDP from any computer in the household. 

>Windows 10 (Channels DVR VM)
Learn more about Channels later on. I'm working on moving our current channels instance over to this VM. 

>Microsoft SQL Server (DEV)
This is my development SQL Server environment.

>Ubuntu Server (JupyterHub - Python/Data Analytics, Machine Learning)

>SavaPage (Printer portal/server - work in progress)

>Windows 10
For general use. Accessible with RDP on my other computers. I use a Mac as my daily driver, so this is helpful when a Windows machine is needed.  

>Ubuntu Server (Tailscale - as a primary exit Node)

>Ubuntu Server (Tailscale - as a failover subnet router)

>vCenter Server 
Currently setting up a vSphere HA configuration. This VM runs currently runs vCenter Server, and will eventually be critical to the HA environment. 

Dell PowerEdge R410 #1 (yes I know, those loose HDDs scare me too - I'm working on getting bays)

ESXi Server running the following VMs:

>Zabbix Server (Network/infrastructure monitoring)

>PiHole DNS (Primary DNS Server)

>Linux VM for Docker
​This is going to replace the Raspberry Pi running docker eventually.

Dell PowerEdge R410 #2 (yes I know, those loose HDDs scare me too - I'm working on getting bays)

​ESXi Server running the following VMs:

>PiHole DNS (Secondary DNS Server)

>Plex Server

>HomeAssistant
Runs home automations in the house. Also has HomeBridge for non-HomeKit devices to be accessible with HomeKit. 

>TeslaMate (Local hosted vehicle tracking and stats)

>Ubuntu Server (Tailscale - as an failover exit Node)

>Ubuntu Server (Tailscale - as a primary subnet router)

>Microsoft SQL Server (PROD)
This is my "production" SQL Server environment(coming soon)



​​_________________________________________________________
Mac Mini Enclosure (2 total):
Each enclosure contains 2 Mac Minis. Here is what they do:

Mac Mini 1 (M1 10Gbe Model)
Runs the following:
​
-Downloads all of my iCloud Photo Library locally as a backup. Whenever I take a photo/video it 
automatically is pulled down by that computer and a local backup is taken. I currently have over 50k photos and 1k videos in my iCloud Photo Library, so a backup is critical. 

-Gmail backup solution. Pulls emails from Gmail and stores a backup. Solution for hacked or flagged Gmail account issues. 


Mac Mini 2 (M1 Model +10Gbe Caldigit Thunderbolt Adapter)
For use in a future project. 
​
Mac mini 3 (2012 Intel Model)
​This Mac mini runs "Harmony Bridge". Harmony Bridge is an application that integrates Logitech Harmony Hubs into HomeKit.
 

​Mac mini 4 (2018 Intel Model)
This Mac mini is being configured to run ESXi. Currently a future project. 


​
​​​_________________________________________________________
Synology DX-517:
Provides backup space for my DS1821+. I am able to backup VMs shares and other critical data. 

Synology DS220+ (2 total - one pictured):
Provides Synology HA cluster for the Dell Servers for VM storage in ESXi via iSCSI. This way if one Synology units stops working or needs to be restated/updated then the other one takes over eliminating the VMs from needing to be shut down, etc. 
​​​_________________________________________________________
Unifi Protect - UNVR:
NVR for all my security cameras including a doorbell cam!



​
​​​_________________________________________________________
​Synology DS1821+:
This is my primary NAS. It currently has around 31 TB usable due to RAID configuration. I store my local media library on here, which is accessible through the Channels app. This is also used for computer backups among many other things.

​
2 External HDDs for Channels DVR to run their boot drive on. (avoiding SD cards in the Raspberry Pis)
​

Keystone Patch Panel X2
UniFi Switch US-48-500W (Managed Network Switch w/POE):

This is the main switch of the network. It provides ethernet across the house. 
This device provides POE to a camera, AP, most of the Raspberry Pis, and a few other devices. I also have many 8 port POE UniFi switches around the house. 

Keystone Patch Panel

UniFi Switch US-24 (Managed Network Switch w/o POE):
This is a secondary network switch. Nothing special about this but I try to use it for devices that don't need POE to keep more POE ports open (cost savings). 

UniFi Dream Machine Pro (UDM Pro):
This unit is the Router/Firewall. It also is the UniFi Network and UniFi Protect Controller. It takes an incoming connection from AT&T Fiber and backup WAN from Verizon 4G via the CradlePoint system mentioned before.

UniFi Switch Aggregation Pro:
This unit is used to connect other network switches to the UDM Pro. Link aggregation is setup for switches that support multiple SFP based connections. This includes 10Gb networking for the Synology NAS, Mac Mini, and soon to be the Dell R410 server. 

Fortigate 50B​:
​Got this for a great deal used. Thought it would be a good learning experience. Hoping to get this up and running soon!

AT&T Fiber Gateway/Modem (old Spectrum one is pictured):
AT&T Fiber connection - 500Mbps symmetrical

Storage Drawer:
Simply space for keeping screws, zip ties, and more!

​
2x CyberPower UPS Backup Power Units:
Every device in the rack is attached to a UPS for backup power. 










Headless Desktops:
All of them currently run Windows 10 Pro OR Windows Server 2022. 


HHN-RK-001 (Dell OptiPlex 7010) - in cabinet
Used to be used for a digital signage solution but that has been moved to a Raspberry Pi. Currently used for remote access and awaiting a future project. 

HHN-RK-002 (Dell OptiPlex 5040) - in cabinet
Use this primary for file processes that take a long time. Basically a working machine that I can use for a process at anytime. Therefore, I am not running day long file copy processes from my laptop. 

HHN-RK-003 (Dell OptiPlex 5040) - in cabinet
Currently using this tower to test a VPN security solution. 

HHN-RK-004 (Dell OptiPlex 5040) - in cabinet
Runs RoboTask which is a task scheduling software.
Current tasks that are set up:
-Transfer FreePBX recordings. 
-Check if my Public IP address has changed. This check runs every 2 minutes. My public IP is not static and my JumpCloud Radius service doesn't accept DDNS (Dynamic DNS), so if my public IP changes then the radius service will stop working. The IP is checked against a RegEx expression and if it isn't a match will send me an email alert.
-Run SSH command on UDM-Pro to resolve memory leak issues (future job that isn't fully configured yet)

HHN-RK-005 (Dell OptiPlex 5040) - in cabinet
-Runs MCEBuddy for commercial removal. 
-Runs PlayOn Home which allows you to record and locally save streaming content

HHN-RK-006 (Intel NUC) - in rack
Reserved for a future project.

HHN-RK-WS-002 (orange unit) - on top of cabinet
​Currently using to convert physical media to digital based via Plex. Using MakeMKV to preform this process. 


​
Note: Every device is also is plugged into a remotely switchable outlet. This makes for easy power cycling on any device, anywhere in the world. However, the device I am using for this cannot yet be displayed on this website as it is in a prerelease/beta stage and under a NDA. 
You reached the bottom of the rack.

Questions, Comments, Concerns?

Contact Me
© 2020-2021
  • Home
  • Projects
    • Homelab
    • Home Theater Rack
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • My Professional Portfolio