About My Home Servers

The following is a work-in-progress document describing my home servers.

Nisaba (main server)

My main home server isn't anything powerful or fancy by any means, but I'm quite proud of it all the same! It's been running almost nonstop for 8 years now in varying configurations. The following describes its current configuration, which I'm pretty happy with.

Hardware

• i7-4790 processor
• 32 GB DDR3 RAM
• 16 TB HDD
• 500 GB SSD

Services

All services run in Docker.

• Agate (Gemini server)
• Bluesky (atproto) PDS
• Borgmatic (backups)
• Caddy (HTTPS web server, reverse proxy)
• Debian mirror
• Dockge (Docker Compose web interface)
• Dozzle (Docker logs)
• Hydra (accessory server for Hydra Reddit app)
• Immich (photo management)
• Zimfarm (worker for the Kiwix project)
• Miniflux (RSS aggregator)
• Scrutiny (HDD health monitor)
• Uptime Kuma (service monitor)
• Watchtower (automated Docker image updates)

Raspberry Pi 4

This little fella is small but scrappy. I'm convinced that it could host nearly the full suite of services listed under my main server, and I intend to set it up as a disaster recovery target in the event Nisaba suddenly goes kaput.

Hardware

• RasPi 4 with 8 GB RAM
• Argon ONE V2 aluminum case (keeps it nice and cool no matter the load)

Services

Nothing as of right now. I intend to use this as a cold backup target for Nisaba, as well as, dare I say, a disaster recovery node? We'll see!

Networking

Lots of folks have really nice homelabs with enterprise networking equipment. I can't quite justify such an expense, but the following setup works well for me and my family.

Netgear Nighthawk X10 R9000

I bought this guy used on eBay for $94 in 2024. It's got plenty of horsepower for what my family and I need, but the big selling point was the SFP+ port I'm using for fiber internet (below)..

XGS-PON ONU SFP+ stick with 8311 firmware

This little fella masquerades as the AT&T fiber modem provided to me when I began service. It runs HOT, and with cooling seemingly being an afterthought by the designers, I have a little 40mm fan blowing on it. It's janky but works!