Sandbox // Self-Hosted

The Home Lab

My personal playground for testing enterprise tech and hosting services at home. A hybrid setup that simulates a corporate Windows environment while running modern apps in Docker — all tied together on a segmented UniFi network.

Infrastructure

The Stack

NAS01

Compute & Storage

Unraid OS · Lenovo ThinkStation P520 · 5TB HDD (RAID1)

Primary server handling NAS duties and Docker containers. Running Hyper-V instances for Windows Server 2022 to practice AD administration in a sandboxed environment.

  • OS: Unraid — flexible array management with Docker and VM support side by side
  • Virtualization: Hyper-V guests for Windows Server 2022 AD/DNS lab work
  • Storage: 5TB mirrored array for media and backup

GW01

Network Infrastructure

Ubiquiti UniFi · Multi-VLAN Segmentation

A UniFi stack built around the UCG Max managing five distinct VLANs — keeping lab gear, IoT devices, and isolated containers cleanly separated.

  • Gateway: UniFi Cloud Gateway Max
  • Switching: 2.5 GbE RJ45 LAN ports on the UCG Max
  • Wireless: UniFi U7 Pro — 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz
  • VLANs: Main, HomeLab (NAS01 + appliances), Guest, IoT (smart plugs & lights), Isolated (external-only Docker containers)

Docker & Self-Hosted

Services & Automation

HA01

Home Automation

Home Assistant · Raspberry Pi 4

Running on a dedicated Pi, Home Assistant ties all smart devices together with local-first logic — avoiding cloud dependency where possible.

  • Devices: Govee lights, TP-Link smart plugs, Zigbee temperature/humidity sensors
  • Hardware: Raspberry Pi 4, Sonoff Zigbee USB stick

PLX01

Media Streaming

Plex Media Server · Unraid Docker

Hardware-accelerated transcoding for streaming movies and music to any device in the house, backed by the Unraid storage array.

Projects & Interfaces

Integrations & Builds

INK01

E-Ink Dashboard

Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W · Pimoroni Inky pHAT · Python / Flask

A Python-based dashboard that transforms a Pimoroni Inky pHAT into an interactive information hub. Controlled via a local Flask web interface, it delivers real-time system analytics, local weather forecasts, and live Last.fm music tracking to an e-ink display.

  • Stack: Python, Flask, Pimoroni Inky library, OpenWeatherMap API, Last.fm API
  • Hosting: Runs locally on the Pi Zero 2 W, deployed via GitHub
View GitHub Repo →

WEB

emshort.net

Cloudflare Workers · GitHub Pages

The portfolio site you're on now — built with vanilla HTML/CSS, version-controlled on GitHub, and deployed automatically through Cloudflare Workers on every push to main.