From 600f656164debb78e8c19e9d6162ce909d7413a4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Chase Dumphord <60725859+ced4568@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2026 17:37:45 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] Revise README for improved clarity and detail Updated the README to enhance clarity and detail about the HomeLab environment, including sections on architecture, purpose, and future plans. --- README.md | 203 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------- 1 file changed, 121 insertions(+), 82 deletions(-) diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 48ea12d..c693e56 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -1,16 +1,63 @@ -# Ced's HomeLab +# 🧠 Ced’s HomeLab (Enterprise Infrastructure & Monitoring Lab) -Ced's HomeLab is my personal mini–datacenter: a segmented, cloud-connected environment built for learning, experimentation, and portfolio work. It includes: +A production-style homelab designed to simulate real-world infrastructure, system monitoring, and service delivery. -- Proxmox virtualization -- TrueNAS ZFS storage -- A 12-node Raspberry Pi K3s cluster -- Nginx Proxy Manager + Cloudflare Tunnel -- Home Assistant + IoT integration -- Media stack (Arr suite + Jellyfin) -- Observability (Grafana, Prometheus, Uptime Kuma) +This environment functions as a **personal datacenter**, combining virtualization, Kubernetes orchestration, observability, and secure external access. -This repo is the **documentation and configuration hub** for the entire environment. +--- + +## πŸš€ What This Lab Demonstrates + +- Infrastructure design (Proxmox + virtualized services) +- Kubernetes orchestration (12-node K3s cluster) +- Network segmentation (VLAN architecture) +- Monitoring & observability (Grafana, Prometheus, Uptime Kuma) +- Secure service exposure (Cloudflare Tunnels + reverse proxy) +- Real-world system integration (data, services, automation) + +--- + +## πŸ—οΈ Architecture Overview + +This lab is built around three core layers: + +### πŸ–₯️ Infrastructure Layer +- Proxmox VE hypervisor +- Virtual Machines + LXC containers +- TrueNAS storage backend (ZFS, NFS, SMB) + +### ☸️ Orchestration Layer +- 12-node K3s Kubernetes cluster +- Workload segmentation (ingress, data, monitoring) +- MetalLB + NGINX ingress + +### 🌐 Access & Networking Layer +- VLAN segmented network (UDR) +- Nginx Proxy Manager +- Cloudflare Tunnel (zero port-forwarding) + +--- + +## 🎯 Purpose + +This lab is designed to: + +- Simulate production-style environments +- Build hands-on infrastructure experience +- Develop monitoring and system visibility skills +- Serve as a real-world engineering portfolio project + +--- + +## πŸ“Έ Key System Views + +Screenshots and dashboard views will be added as the lab documentation expands. + +- Grafana dashboards (Ced’s NOC) +- Proxmox cluster view +- K3s node status +- Dashy homepage +- Service monitoring panels --- @@ -18,12 +65,12 @@ This repo is the **documentation and configuration hub** for the entire environm The lab runs behind a UniFi Dream Router (UDR) with VLAN segmentation: -| Network | Subnet | Purpose | -|--------------|----------------|---------------------------------| -| Main | 10.10.10.0/24 | Daily-use devices | -| MyHomeIOT | 10.10.20.0/24 | IoT devices, TVs, consoles | -| HomeLab | 10.10.30.0/24 | Servers, services, K3s, storage | -| Guest | 10.10.99.0/24 | Guest Wi-Fi | +| Network | Subnet | Purpose | +|--------|--------|--------| +| Main | 10.10.10.0/24 | Daily-use devices | +| MyHomeIOT | 10.10.20.0/24 | IoT devices, TVs, consoles | +| HomeLab | 10.10.30.0/24 | Servers, services, K3s, storage | +| Guest | 10.10.99.0/24 | Guest Wi-Fi | The HomeLab VLAN (10.10.30.0/24) hosts all core infrastructure. @@ -31,123 +78,115 @@ The HomeLab VLAN (10.10.30.0/24) hosts all core infrastructure. ## 🧱 Core Components -### Proxmox VE - +### πŸ–₯️ Proxmox VE - Main hypervisor for VMs and LXCs - Future expansion to a Proxmox cluster (+5 nodes) -- Uses TrueNAS for shared storage (NFS / iSCSI) - -See: [`proxmox/`](proxmox/) +- Uses TrueNAS for shared storage (NFS / iSCSI) +πŸ“ See: `proxmox/` --- -### TrueNAS (ZFS Storage) - +### πŸ’Ύ TrueNAS (ZFS Storage) - Manages ZFS pools and datasets - NFS exports for Proxmox VM storage -- SMB / media dataset for Jellyfin & Arr stack - -See: [`truenas/`](truenas/) +- SMB / media dataset for Jellyfin & Arr stack +πŸ“ See: `truenas/` --- -### K3s Raspberry Pi Cluster +### ☸️ K3s Raspberry Pi Cluster +A 12-node K3s cluster built on Raspberry Pi hardware for orchestrating containerized workloads across the lab. -A 12-node K3s cluster (Raspberry Pis) for running: +Current and planned uses include: -- Containerized apps +- Containerized applications - Ingress-based routing -- GitOps and helm-based workloads (future) +- Monitoring workloads +- Future GitOps and Helm-based deployments -K3s is part of the HomeLab but documented in detail in its own repo: -- https://github.com/ced4568/ced-k3s-homelab - -This repo may reference that cluster and contain high-level config patterns. +πŸ“Œ Full cluster repo: +https://github.com/ced4568/ced-k3s-homelab --- -### Reverse Proxy & Cloudflare Tunnel - -- Nginx Proxy Manager (NPM) on the HomeLab VLAN +### 🌐 Reverse Proxy & Cloudflare Tunnel +- Nginx Proxy Manager (NPM) - Cloudflare Tunnel (no port forwarding) - Wildcard DNS: `*.cedshomelab.com` -External access flow: - -```text +**Traffic Flow:** Internet β†’ Cloudflare Edge β†’ Tunnel β†’ NPM β†’ Internal Services -``` -Docs: [`docs/Add_New_Service_Guide.md`](docs/Add_New_Service_Guide.md) +πŸ“ Docs: `docs/Add_New_Service_Guide.md` --- -### Home Automation +### 🏠 Home Automation +- Home Assistant (Proxmox VM) +- IoT isolated on MyHomeIOT VLAN +- Secure access via Cloudflare + NPM +- `trusted_proxies` configured -- Home Assistant (HA) in Proxmox -- IoT devices isolated on MyHomeIOT VLAN -- HA exposed via Cloudflare + NPM -- `trusted_proxies` configured for NPM - -Config snippets: [`home-assistant/configuration-snippets/`](home-assistant/configuration-snippets/) +πŸ“ Config: `home-assistant/` --- -### Observability +### πŸ“Š Observability (Ced’s NOC) -- Prometheus scrapes metrics from: - - Proxmox - - K3s - - TrueNAS (future) - - Home Assistant / MQTT (future) -- Grafana dashboards, including a **Ced's NOC** view +The lab includes an observability stack built around: + +- Prometheus for metrics collection +- Grafana for dashboards and visualization - Uptime Kuma for service-level monitoring -Notes and dashboards: [`monitoring/`](monitoring/) +Current and planned monitoring coverage includes: +- Proxmox performance +- K3s cluster health +- Service uptime +- Infrastructure visibility improvements over time + +πŸ“ See: `monitoring/` --- ## 🧭 Documentation -- **How to add a new service via NPM + Cloudflare** - [`docs/Add_New_Service_Guide.md`](docs/Add_New_Service_Guide.md) - -- **Architecture diagrams (Mermaid)** - [`docs/Ced_Homelab_Diagrams.md`](docs/Ced_Homelab_Diagrams.md) - -- **Roadmap / future ideas** - [`docs/roadmap.md`](docs/roadmap.md) +- Add new service: `docs/Add_New_Service_Guide.md` +- Architecture diagrams: `docs/Ced_Homelab_Diagrams.md` +- Roadmap: `docs/roadmap.md` --- ## πŸš€ Future Plans - Full Proxmox cluster -- Cloudflare Zero Trust on critical services -- GitOps for K3s deployments (in ced-k3s-homelab) +- Cloudflare Zero Trust integration +- GitOps for K3s deployments - Internal container registry -- K3s-specific wildcard routing (`*.apps.cedshomelab.com`) -- More detailed monitoring + alerting -- Visual portfolio site on: - - `chasedumphord.com` or - - `cedshome.com` +- Advanced monitoring + alerting +- Portfolio site: + - chasedumphord.com + - cedshome.com --- -## ⚠️ Secrets & Security +## ⚠️ Security Practices -This repo **never** stores: +This repo never stores: -- API tokens -- Private keys -- Passwords -- Secret YAML files +- API tokens +- Private keys +- Passwords +- Sensitive configs -Any real config with secrets should be kept locally only, or represented here as `*.example` files. +All secrets are handled locally or via `.example` files. --- -## ✨ Author +## πŸ‘€ Author -**Ced (Chase Dumphord)** -Cybersecurity / GRC / SOC β€’ Full-Stack Dev β€’ Homelab builder +**Chase Dumphord** +Digital Systems Engineer | Infrastructure | Data Systems | Automation + +LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toochase-dumphord/ +GitHub: https://github.com/ced4568