Independent lab

Home lab and infrastructure.

An independent environment for practicing server administration, virtualization, networking, storage, and troubleshooting. The diagram is conceptual and omits private details.

Independent lab / practical experience

Hands-on systems practice.

Dell PowerEdge systems, Hyper-V, and Proxmox provide room to work with Windows domains, Linux servers, Docker, storage, and network segmentation. Current server work also includes Cloudflare connectivity and Dockhand for container operations.

Dell PowerEdgeHyper-VProxmox VEDockerDockhandCloudflareWindows ADLinux
Illustrative server infrastructure image

Home network / Ubiquiti

Hands-on UniFi from gateway to Wi-Fi.

I own and operate a Ubiquiti gateway, switch, and access point. Working with the full path helps me understand how routing, switching, segmentation, and wireless behavior affect one another.

01 / gateway

Routing & policy

Work with network paths, VLAN boundaries, remote access, and the gateway settings that shape connectivity.

02 / switch

Wired network

Manage the connection between hosts, services, and segmented networks, then trace issues from port to endpoint.

03 / access point

Wireless coverage

Configure and troubleshoot Wi-Fi alongside the rest of the network, including client access and reliability.

Conceptual topology

Connected layers, clear boundaries.

This is a portfolio diagram, not a network map or inventory.

ACCESS
☁ Cloudflare◇ Tailscale⇄ Reverse proxy
NETWORK
⌁ UniFi▥ Segmented VLANs◈ VPN / routing
COMPUTE
▣ Dell PowerEdge▦ Hyper-V▧ Proxmox
SERVICES
⊞ Windows / AD / DNS⌘ Linux / Docker▤ PostgreSQL / API
STORAGE
▥ ZFS / RAIDZ2▤ Mirrors◫ Storage Spaces

Physical foundation

Servers I have worked with.

R430PowerEdgeRack server generation
R730PowerEdgeRack server generation
R820PowerEdgeRack server generation
R740PowerEdgeRack server generation

The referenced server models describe equipment worked with; this page does not publish live host roles, addresses, or capacity.

Operational range

Troubleshooting across layers.

Typical investigations can cross PowerShell, Windows services, Group Policy, DNS, VPN routing, Linux, containers, nginx, Cloudflare, database state, and a browser UI. The goal is to isolate the failing layer before making a change.

Explore the technical domains ↗
EXAMPLE / DIAGNOSTIC FLOW
  1. Confirm the symptom and compare working paths.
  2. Check endpoint state, name resolution, route, and policy.
  3. Trace the service, proxy, API, and database if needed.
  4. Document the fix and automate the repeatable part.