Homelab DNS is where self-hosting becomes predictable. This guide gives you 9 rules for choosing a domain, setting up local DNS, when to use split-horizon DNS, and three safe HTTPS patterns that keep admin services private.
Author: Nimsara Akash
Nimsara Akash
I’m Nimsara Akash. I’m interested in computer science, infrastructure, and learning how systems work in practice. I work as a freelance UX designer, and outside of work I run a small home lab where I experiment with self-hosting, virtualization, and open-source tools. HomelabAddiction is where I document what I learn along the way and share practical setups, mistakes, and ideas for others who are on a similar path.
Cloudflare Tunnel vs VPN vs port forwarding is really a choice about exposure and control. This guide compares them in 9 practical dimensions, then gives a simple default: VPN-first for personal access, tunnel for specific web apps, and port forwarding only when you truly need direct inbound.
Nginx Proxy Manager vs Caddy vs Traefik is mostly a trade-off between GUI simplicity, “it just works” TLS, and automation with Docker labels. This guide compares them in 7 practical dimensions and gives a clear default choice for most beginner homelabs.
To grow your homelab without breaking everything, you need boring habits: document changes, isolate risk, test restores, and upgrade on purpose. These 10 practical habits keep a beginner lab stable as it grows.
Homelab backups and monitoring are the difference between a fun hobby and a fragile mess. This guide gives you a beginner-friendly, 3-2-1-style backup plan, what to monitor first, and a weekly maintenance routine that keeps everything predictable.
Homelab security is mostly about reducing accidental exposure. These 9 practical rules cover the defaults that keep beginners safe: local-only first, no random port forwards, VPN-first remote access, strong auth, updates, backups, and monitoring.
Homelab networking basics are not hard, but the terms get thrown around like you already work in a data center. This guide breaks down the 9 concepts that make self-hosting reliable: IPs, DHCP, DNS, NAT, subnets, VLANs, firewalls, port forwarding, and VPNs.
Not sure what to self-host first? Start with services that give you an immediate daily win, are easy to back up, and do not turn your network into a science project. Here are 7 beginner-friendly picks, plus a simple decision guide.
Docker gets easy once you understand a handful of core concepts: images, containers, volumes, networks, and Compose. This guide explains those building blocks in plain language, with a simple mental model you can reuse for every service you self-host.
Virtual machines and containers both let you run multiple things on one server, but the boundary they give you is not the same. This guide explains the real difference in plain terms, then shows a simple default setup for Proxmox and Docker that is easy to maintain and restore.