Uses
Tools, hardware, and software I use daily for homelab management, development, and system administration.
Homelab Hardware
3x Proxmox VE Nodes
Multi-node cluster (pve01–pve03) running VMs and LXC containers
Proxmox Backup Server
Dedicated PBS instance with daily and weekly automated backups
Unraid NAS
8-bay storage server for media and long-term backup storage via NFS
NVIDIA GPUs
GTX 1060 6GB (pve01/Plex transcoding) and GTX 1050 Ti 4GB (pve02/Ollama)
Networking
UniFi UCG Ultra Cloud Gateway
Gateway with VLANs, routing, and network segmentation
UniFi USW-Lite-8-PoE
PoE switch for access points and wired devices
UniFi U7 Lite APs
Wi-Fi 7 mesh network with wired and wireless backhaul
Pi-hole (x2)
Redundant DNS filtering with nebula-sync replication
Core Infrastructure
Traefik
Native systemd reverse proxy with Let's Encrypt wildcard SSL via Cloudflare DNS
Authentik
Single sign-on with OAuth 2.0, LDAP, and multi-factor authentication
Cloudflare Tunnel
Secure external access without open firewall ports
Cloudflare DDNS
Dynamic DNS updates for ignitethesparkmovement.org (pearsondw.com uses Tunnel instead)
Docker & Container Management
3x Docker Hosts
LXC containers (docker01–03) running all services via Docker Compose
Komodo
Deployment automation and Docker stack management with web UI
Dozzle
Real-time Docker log viewer with remote agents across all hosts
Homepage
Dashboard portal for quick access to all homelab services
Homelab Docs
MkDocs-based documentation site at docs.pearsondw.com for infrastructure reference
Monitoring & Automation
Zabbix 7
Monitoring 18 hosts with PSK-encrypted agents and Telegram alerting
Grafana
Real-time dashboards with Zabbix data source integration
n8n
Workflow automation including AI-powered Zabbix alert analysis via Ollama
Semaphore
Ansible automation UI for playbook execution and VM provisioning
NetBox
Network documentation, IP address management, and infrastructure inventory
Media & AI
Plex
Media server with NVIDIA GPU hardware transcoding via LXC passthrough
Ollama
Local LLM server running Mistral 7B on GTX 1050 Ti for AI workflows
Development Tools
VS Code
Primary editor with extensions for Python, Docker, and more
Neovim
Terminal-based editor for quick edits and server work
Claude Code
AI-powered coding assistant for development and automation
iTerm2 + zsh
Terminal with oh-my-zsh and Powerlevel10k theme
Git + GitHub
Version control for infrastructure as code and projects
This Site
Next.js 15
React framework with App Router, TypeScript, and hybrid SSR/SSG
Tailwind CSS 4
Utility-first CSS framework with CSS-first configuration
Docker
Node.js container deployed on the Proxmox cluster
Cloudflare Tunnel
Secure exposure to the internet with DDoS protection
Why This Stack?
Every tool in my stack has been chosen for a specific reason—either it solves a real problem I've encountered, or it's the best-in-class solution for its category.
I prioritize open-source software where possible, both for transparency and to support the community that has enabled my homelab journey. Commercial tools are used only when they provide significant value that open-source alternatives can't match.
This stack has evolved over several years of experimentation, failures, and successes. What you see here is what actually works in production, not just what looks good on paper.
Inspired by /uses
This page is inspired by uses.tech, a project by Wes Bos that encourages developers to share their tools and workflows.
Want to dive deeper into how these tools work together? Check out my blog for detailed guides and tutorials.