A hooded iCommish Labs operator at a laptop inside a cave, with illuminated circuitry and an ICL emblem on the rock wall

Building systems.
Exploring beneath
the surface.

Home labs. Cybersecurity. Local AI.
Independent curiosity, connected.

The infrastructure

Home Lab.
A stack in motion.

An ASUS Proxmox tower, Ubuntu VM 101 and a separate Kubuntu AI workstation. Connected by network segments and private access.

Follow the connections

Virtualized Services & OS

The operating systems behind my daily work, server services and AI experiments.

Windows
Ubuntu VM 101
Kubuntu AI PC

Storage & network

Connecting the stack, then shaping its boundaries with OPNsense.

VLANs
OPNsense
Isolation

AI Infrastructure

From building with Codex to running intelligence on my own systems.

VM 101 inference
Kubuntu agents
Private interfaces

Experiments in motion

First home lab / Field guide 01

Build your first home lab.

Trace the network. Choose one compute host. Explore seven hardware guides and the checks that come before buying.

Explore the mini lab

Core compute

Office / cyber

Separate AI workstation

VM 101 applications

Future expansion

FramecraftCreative workspace ↗

ConnectionVirtual machineWorkflow / private access

Configuration snapshot from the current inventory. Signals illustrate relationships; service health is not monitored here. Physical switch port assignments are not shown. Swipe to explore, or choose a system below.

RecordedVerifyIn progressPlanned

Choose a system

Explore the topology

Follow the signal.

AT&T gateway → OPNsense → GS108T v2. Follow the actual network segments, ASUS-hosted guests, VM 101 services and the separate Kubuntu workstation.

The recorded stack.

Open an inventory for service roles, host placement and the distinction between recorded, unverified and planned components.

Ubuntu VM 101 service inventory

The documents place this application stack on VM 101. Paperless status and host were updated by you during this review.

Component	Role / placement	Status
Docker / Compose	Container platform	Recorded
Homepage	Private dashboard	Recorded
n8n	Workflow automation	Recorded
PostgreSQL	Application / automation data	Recorded
MinIO	Object storage	Recorded
Forgejo	Self-hosted Git	Recorded
Next.js + FastAPI	Lab interface and backend	Recorded; inference path verify
Dozzle	Container logs	Recorded
Ollama	Local inference on VM 101	Recorded; current models verify
Paperless-ngx	Document capture / OCR	Running; owner confirmed
Portainer	Container management	Verify
Uptime Kuma	Availability checks	Verify
Watchtower	Container updates	Verify
Open WebUI	Local AI browser	Verify

Compute and remote-access register

Current roles without private addresses, serial numbers or login URLs.

Component	Role / placement	Status
ASUS custom tower	Proxmox; i7-3770 / 32 GB DDR3	Recorded
Ubuntu Server VM 101	Critical services on ASUS Proxmox	Recorded
Kali VM	ASUS Proxmox; VLAN 60	Recorded
Wazuh Ubuntu 24.04 VM	ASUS Proxmox; manager/indexer/dashboard	Installed; health verify
Kubuntu mini PC	Separate Ryzen 7 / 32 GB workstation	Owner OS update
MSI laptop	Windows 11 administration; Tailscale	Recorded
Dell touch netbook	Secondary administration endpoint	Recorded
HP Linux Mint laptop	SSH / Tailscale; Ollama setup was underway	Verify
iPhone 15	Tailscale / SSH administration	Recorded

Plans and recovery boundaries

These entries are not silently promoted into running infrastructure.

Component	Role / placement	Status
VLAN 10	Additional segmentation / migration	Defined; unfinished
VLAN 40	IoT segregation	Planned; not finalized
Dell Wyse 5070	Stand-alone XCP-ng / Xen Orchestra idea	Planned; SSD visibility and VT-x verify
Mini-PC KVM guests	Previous Kali / Windows experiments	In progress previously; recheck after OS change
Windows Server / Windows 11 lab	AD / help-desk training	Planned / verify
External USB VM backups	Backup jobs completed previously	Restore rehearsal unverified
Arcane / NetAlertX / Grafana / Airia	Potential service additions	Planned
Expanded RAG / agent automation	Future AI enhancements	Planned

The tools inside my stack.

Practical guides

Understand the choice.
Then build the system.

Raspberry Pi or mini PC?

Compare the architecture, accessories, storage and recovery plan for your first home services.

Read the comparison

Beelink, Proxmox & Docker.

Start with the exact machine. Work through virtualization, Linux compatibility, persistent data and backups.

Use the compatibility checklist

Reviews

Hardware research against real workload needs: OS, virtualization, storage, networks and creative work.

Explore reviews

Affiliate Gear

Explore the compute, storage, network and creator tools behind the stack.

Enter the Gear Room The Gear Room contains affiliate links.

Connected by curiosity

iCommish

Labs

Local intelligence.
Connected infrastructure.

Ollama inference on Ubuntu VM 101. Hermes and Codex workflows on Kubuntu. Local models, agents and creative work, connected through the lab.

Explore the infrastructure Visit Framecraft

The watch floor

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Referral tracking
Subscription commissions
Partner dashboards

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FirstPromoter Reports screen with overview, campaign performance, promoter performance, traffic source, and landing page report options — FirstPromoter product preview. Figures shown are illustrative, not iCommish Labs results.

Built with curiosity.
Secured with intention.
Understood from within.

OPNsense policy, Pi-hole and Unbound DNS, Suricata visibility and Wazuh monitoring. Understanding the boundaries and recorded state of the systems I build.

Understand the system.
Question the defaults.
Keep building.

Follow the next build.

Stay connected
to the lab.

Projects, experiments and the work behind the systems.