Having a local Ubuntu repository mirror greatly improves package download speed and removes external dependencies during system updates. For my lab setup, I created a dedicated VM to host the mirror, exposed securely over HTTPS using Apache. This post documents the complete setup—from installing apt-mirror to configuring TLS and preparing the repository structure. Note on … Read more
Enabling SSL/TLS on every site—whether in a home lab or in production—is a good practice. While Let’s Encrypt offers free certificates suitable for most setups, I prefer using eMudhra’s emSign CA, especially for wildcard certificates and environments where commercial CA validation is preferred. This post documents the complete process of generating a wildcard SSL certificate … Read more
In a home lab that also serves as an R&D environment, frequent rebuilds, upgrades, and full reinstall cycles are inevitable. To avoid losing critical documentation, Docker repositories, source code, and other persistent assets, I decided to dedicate one physical server exclusively for management. This system now hosts all essential services and a lightweight K3s cluster … Read more
This blog provides a detailed overview of the physical infrastructure supporting the lab and production-grade deployment environment. The goal of this platform is to create a high-performance, high-availability foundation for virtualized workloads, container-based services, storage clusters, and management applications. The hardware has been selected and organized to deliver predictable performance, strong isolation, and reliable scaling. … Read more