---
title: "Homelab Infrastructure, Proxmox, Docker & Networking | moonweb"
section: "infra"
tags: "infra"
description: "Homelab infrastructure overview: Proxmox hosts, Synology NAS, Docker VMs and Setup-Guides."
layout: base.njk
sections:
  - heading: "Platform"
    cards:
      - title: "🖥️ Proxmox host (PVE)"
        summary: "Hosting environment for running production VMs and LXC containers for the homelab."
        href: "/infra/proxmox/"
      - title: "💾 Synology DS918+"
        summary: "NAS running Docker services and acting as the primary backup repository."
        href: "/infra/synology/"
      - title: "🐳 Docker VMs (Debian)"
        summary: "Primary target for new Docker/Compose services, running the monitoring exporters."
        href: "/infra/docker/"
      - title: "📦 LXC Container"
        summary: "Pi-hole, Ubuntu-Worker and MariaDB running on slim LXC Containers."
        href: "/infra/lxc/"
  - heading: "Strategies & Setup-Guides"
    cards:
      - title: "🔄 Backup strategy"
        summary: "Layered backup approach covering NAS user content and VM/LXC backups across multiple locations."
        href: "/infra/backup-strategy/"
      - title: "📊 Prometheus/Grafana"
        summary: "Central metrics collection and dashboards for hosts, containers, and hardware."
        href: "/infra/monitoring/"
      - title: "💻 Dev environment"
        summary: "A disposable, daily-backed-up Xubuntu VM for AI-assisted, remote development via SSH and Chrome Remote Desktop."
        href: "/infra/dev-environment/"
      - title: "🌐 OpenWrt Multi-WAN"
        summary: "Multi-WAN router with WiFi and Powerline failover, plus IoT VLAN 189 isolation."
        href: "/infra/openwrt/"
---
<h1>Homelab Infrastructure</h1>
<p class="site-intro">A peek under the hood of my homelab. Proxmox, Synology, Docker, and how everything is wired together.</p>

{% include "card-grid.njk" %}

<section class="about-expanded">
  <h2>The setup at a glance</h2>
  <p>The infrastructure runs on three physical machines: a Beelink S12 Pro running Proxmox as the primary host, a second Beelink running Proxmox as a test host, and a Synology DS918+ NAS for storage and Docker services. Development runs in a Xubuntu VM on the Proxmox hosts. An OpenWrt router handles multi-WAN failover with WiFi and Powerline backhaul, and four Zyxel GS1200-8HP managed switches distribute the network across the flat.</p>
  <p>The whole stack is monitored via Prometheus and Grafana, with node exporters on every machine, cAdvisor for container metrics, and SNMP exporters for network hardware. Backups follow a layered strategy: local snapshots, NAS copies, offsite sync to a Raspberry Pi in a different room, and cloud archive for worst-case scenarios.</p>

  <h2>Why Proxmox</h2>
  <p>Proxmox VE was chosen over alternatives like ESXi or plain Docker for several reasons. The open-source model means no licensing headaches. LXC containers provide near-native performance for lightweight services without the overhead of full VMs. The web UI makes it easy to manage snapshots, backups, and migrations. And the ZFS support on the underlying Debian system gives us reliable snapshots and send/receive for the backup chain.</p>

  <h2>How services are organized</h2>
  <p>The general rule: stateful services (databases, media archives, monitoring data) run on the Synology NAS where they benefit from the integrated backup and snapshot system. Stateless services and compute-heavy workloads run on the Proxmox Docker VM. LXC containers handle lightweight always-on services like Pi-hole and MariaDB. This separation makes it easy to tear down and recreate Docker containers without worrying about data loss.</p>
</section>