State of Homelab 2025
It’s the beginning of a new year, and I’m excited to share the state of my homelab in 2025. A lot has changed since I first set up my homelab, and I’m thrilled to see how it has evolved over the years. In this post, I’ll walk you through the current state of my homelab, the new additions I’ve made, and the changes I’ve implemented to keep everything running smoothly.
Overview
My tiny homelab is a very small k3s cluster comprising of 2 Raspberry Pi 4s, an old laptop and occasionally I connect my main PC to the cluster as a node if I want to do some heavy lifting.
I also run my own PiHole instance on a Raspberry Pi 3b+ to block ads and trackers on my network. It’s been a game changer in terms of privacy and security.
Why homelab?
I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of running my own infrastructure. Considering it’s just my wife and I at home, I don’t have a lot of extensive requirements. I actively seek out conscise to the point services that have a small footprint and are easy to manage.
Best discoveries of 2024
k3s + FluxCD
I switched from k8s to k3s in 2024 and it’s been a game changer. It’s lightweight, easy to manage and has a small footprint. I also started using FluxCD to manage my k3s cluster. It’s been a breeze to manage my deployments and configurations.
GitOps is the way to go!
Tailscale
Tailscale has been a life saver. It’s a zero config VPN that just works. I can access my homelab from anywhere without having to worry about setting up complex VPNs. I was avoiding it for a long time because I couldn’t fathom how easy it was to setup. I always assumed it’s too good to be true. But it’s not! IT JUST WORKS!
Ollama and OpenWebUI
Self hosted LLM. While my homelab is pretty small in size, at times I plug in my main PC to the cluster to do some heavy lifting. Building self hosted RAGs, running years’ worth of notes from Obsidian through a conversational model, building an RAG over my knowledge base has been a game changer.
Love for micro-apps
Discovered the joy of micro-apps. Services written in Golang, Rust etc. that are small, fast and easy to manage.
Authelia
Authelia is a single sign-on multi-factor portal for web apps. It’s been a game changer in terms of security. My wife no longer has to remember a million passwords. She just logs in once and Authelia takes care of the rest. File based config management is a cherry on the top
Readeck
I had been a long term Pocket user. But I wanted to self host my bookmarks. Readeck has been a great alternative. It’s fast, easy to use and has a great UI. I would’ve really liked a mobile app/PWA. But I can’t complain. It’s been a great experience so far.
Miniflux
I have been using Miniflux for a while now. It’s a lightweight RSS reader with a minimal UI. It’s fast, easy to use and has a great API. I have been using it to keep up with the latest tech news and blogs.
The PWA is a godsend.
Glance
Glance is a self hosted dashboard with a file based configuration. Minimal footprint and easy to manage.
I just love file based configurations. It’s so easy to manage and version control. With glance I have created a perfect dashboard
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What else?
I also run a vast variety of applications on the cluster. Automation scripts, monitoring tools, arr stack, VPN tunnels for easy access. I have also started using Lens to manage my k3s cluster. It’s been a great experience so far.
Plans for 2025
I plan to increase the infrastructure size. Get a refurbished Optiplex and add it to the cluster. I also plan to add a NAS to the cluster for backups and storage.
My wife has been asking for a self hosted photo gallery. I plan to host immich as a self hosted alternative to Google Photos. Will keep you posted on how that goes.