This is where I write down the admin side of Microsoft 365: the settings, decisions and mistakes behind keeping a small Microsoft 365 environment running. Much of it comes from my work in IT support for small businesses, where there’s no IT department and one person looks after the whole tenant. I write it down mostly so I don’t have to relearn it next time, and in case it saves you the same trouble.
Read article →Proxmox VE is the hypervisor my whole homelab runs on, and this is where I write down how to set it up and keep it running. Everything here is for Proxmox VE 9, tried on my own machines first: a small, low-power server rather than a rack of enterprise gear.
The main thread is the series Proxmox from scratch (all parts), one step at a time:
If you’re starting from nothing, the Homelab Handbook covers the whole journey from a used PC to a running home server in one short guide, and its Proxmox chapter is the short version of this series. The posts here are the deep dive.
Read article →I’ve used Linux for a long time, sometimes dual-booted and sometimes as my main desktop. This is where I write about it: getting started with a Linux desktop, how the distributions I use handle updates and long-term support, and the kernel and open-source news that matters to people who actually run it.
What you’ll find here:
Looking for the career posts that used to sit next to these under “Modern Computing”? They’re in IT Careers now.
Read article →Nextcloud is my own cloud: files, calendars, contacts and photos on a server at home instead of on someone else’s. It runs in a container on my Proxmox host, and this is where I write down what it takes to keep it that way: installing it, getting sync to behave on every device, the apps worth adding, upgrades that don’t break anything, and the occasional upgrade horror story.
What you’ll find here:
Read article →The Kaddu Systems Guides are short, practical handbooks for people who want to run their own services at home. No hype and no rack of enterprise servers: one used PC, a handful of useful services, and plain instructions for getting there. This page is where the guides link to, and where the deeper write-ups live once the booklet’s pages run out.
The first guide takes you from finding a used desktop PC to a quiet, low-power home server. It covers the hardware, storage and networking, Proxmox as the hypervisor, and then the services people usually end up running: Jellyfin, Immich, Nextcloud, Vaultwarden, Home Assistant, AdGuard Home, the *arr stack, Paperless-ngx, Navidrome and Uptime Kuma. It finishes with remote access through Tailscale and where to go next.
Read article →IT moves fast, and what I know I learned by reading, then trying it at home or by trying and failing and then reading about it.. This is where the books go: what’s on my reading list, what I thought of it once I’d read it, and what it actually changed.
What you’ll find here:
From April 2027 there’s a series, Books for a one-person homelab, that starts with The Phoenix Project and goes on to the Google SRE book, networking books and Proxmox books versus the official documentation.
Read article →I trained as a programmer, then spent years doing almost everything but IT, and got back in at the end of 2024. This is where I write about that side of things: how to get (back) into IT when your experience is broad rather than recent, and what the headlines about layoffs and AI really mean for people working in IT.
What you’ll find here:
Everything happening in my home lab: server builds, Proxmox experiments, storage, networking gear, and the ongoing practical, hands-on side of running infrastructure at home.
Read article →Not everything in my lab runs in a virtual machine. Some of it has a soldering iron involved. This is where the hardware projects go: things I design and build myself, what I learned along the way, and what I’d do differently.
What also might creep in are electronics repairs, fixes, and builds not related to my home lab or computer systems.
What you’ll find here:
The DIY battery pack series picks up where the 2021 design post left off, starting with harvesting the cells in March 2027.
Read article →Every service in my homelab is only as good as the network under it. This is where I write about that network: the router and switches, how it’s split up, how I get in from outside, and what I’d do differently.
Possibly also about how I do Network planning and maintenance at work - maybe not specifically for security reason but more principles.
What you’ll find here:
From December 2026 there’s a series, Home network, that picks up where the 2020 EdgeRouter post left off: VLANs, the upgrade with VLANs and WireGuard, VPN choices and the EdgeRouter X years later. The Homelab Handbook covers the network basics for a home server; the posts here are the deeper write-ups.
Read article →My computer story started with a Commodore 64 in the 1980s and carried on with the Amiga. A few years ago I bought a used Amiga 500 and got back into it; these days there are a few Amiga 500s in the cave.
What you’ll find here: