Horizontal scaling (up sizing)

I think the thought came about moving house back around 2 years ago, George would of been 3 and Alfie only 1 years old. But we were already running out of space.

By no means it wasn't "cramped" but we were struggling to find places to put down and set up their toys for longer than a few hours before having to clamber over them. Also our previous garden was only really big enough for one or two outside toys at a time, never mind riding their bikes / scooters out there.

We put the house up on the market quite a while ago initially with lots of interest then it started to fizzle off... Slashed the price a chunk, then it all flared up again. Then again fizzled off.

I was at work about 11 months later with a pretty busy day, went to grab some lunch, then on the way back, about to call up the estate agents to take the house off the market. just before this, I got a call saying we have had a full asking price offer put in... Just like that, no questions asked. SOLD.

Beth's parents were wanting to downsize now she and her brother had moved out many years ago, so we bought their house, enabling them to downsize and us to upsize.

Fresh start

Before we moved house, I had a pretty extensive home automation setup. It was a project I was passionate about, but over time, it became increasingly difficult to maintain. One thing led to another, and the system started to break down. The effort to keep everything running smoothly eventually outweighed the time I had available to dedicate to it. When we decided to move, it felt like the perfect opportunity to hit the reset button. With a new home comes a fresh start, and I’m excited to rebuild everything from the ground up.

This time around, I’m planning to approach things more deliberately and document the entire journey as I go. I’ve decided to start a blog to capture the process, mainly as a way to organize my thoughts and keep track of the decisions I make along the way. Hopefully, it will also serve as a resource for others who might be interested in similar projects or facing the same challenges.

There are three key areas I’m particularly eager to dive into:

New Network

Setting up a robust and scalable home network is at the core of any home automation system. My network is built around Ubiquiti hardware, which I’ve found to be reliable and versatile. I’ll be looking at the hardware, topology, and software that will ensure reliable performance and future-proof the setup. This includes evaluating routers, switches, wireless access points, and the overall design to maximize coverage, speed, and security.

New VM Hosts

Virtualization is another critical component of my infrastructure. I’m using Proxmox as my hypervisor, running on a mix of old Dell MFFs and an old laptop I had lying around. This setup allows me to repurpose existing hardware while maintaining flexibility and efficiency. I want to create an environment to host virtual machines and LXC containers for various services and applications. This means optimizing the hardware, fine-tuning Proxmox configurations, and ensuring the system is easy to maintain and expand as my needs evolve.

New Colocation

While a lot of my services can be run locally, I’m also exploring colocation options for certain components of the setup. Hosting some of the infrastructure off-site adds redundancy and reliability while offloading some of the resource demands from my home network. I’ll be looking into what services make sense to colocate and how to seamlessly integrate them with my local systems.

New Backups

To ensure data protection and continuity, I’m utilizing Veeam to back up both my on-premises home lab and my colocation environment. This provides me with reliable recovery options and peace of mind that my systems are secure and recoverable in case of unexpected failures. I’ll be exploring how to configure and optimize these backups to fit my needs and ensure minimal downtime in case of any disruptions.

Closing

Alongside these major areas, I’m sure there will be plenty of smaller topics to explore, from selecting smart home devices to creating custom automations and workflows. My goal is to share practical insights and lessons learned, not just the successes but also the mistakes along the way.

I’m looking forward to embarking on this journey and hope that by sharing my experiences, I can inspire and assist others in building their own home automation setups. Here’s to a new beginning and a smarter, more connected home!