I have been ‘home-labbing’ since 2021 whilst studying. The systems have been consistently small scale using Proxmox VE on small, low powered Intel N5105 Router Mini-PCs, and more recently on a 2nd Hand HP MicroServer Gen6. Other components have/do included TP_Link 2.5GbE 5 Port Switch, an off-brand 2.5GbE Managed Switch, GLiNet Travel Router and a 16 Port 1GbE TP_Link Switch.

Currently, I self-host a set of VMs, one of which runs Docker, and one running OpenMediaVault - which serves as a local backup (Apple Time Machine) server for my MacBook. The underlying Proxmox host (the HP Server) uses a ZFS filesystem and is rsync’d to a remote NAS running TrueNAS Scale.

The remote NAS runs a number of Docker Services including Plex, Jellyfin, Pinry (Self-hosted Pinterest Alternative), CraftyControl (Minecraft), Mealie (A food recipe manager), and PiHole for Ad-Blocking and Local DNS resolution.

The remote NAS also runs an instance of Home Assistant for my Parents to control their heating system owing to the poor quality of the system’s native app.

I began to try Proxmox in late 2023, as to learn how to use a Hypervisor, and given that Proxmox has a free tier (which is more or less the same as the paid edition), Proxmox seemed like a good choice to learn the ropes of Type #1 Hypervisors.

I am still largely at the beginning with Proxmox, and have only lightly experimented clusters, and am yet to try the Ceph File System. Despite this, I do feel comfortable with the Proxmox browser GUI, and as Proxmox is Debian based, I feel comfortable doing basic Hypervisor OS admin, like Package Updates and basic File System Admin.

For part of 2023, I did use Proxmox to Virtualise a OPNSense Router, but this was later removed from ‘production’ owing to apparently undiagnosable issues with a Sky Q Satellite TV STB. I suspect this was more likely related to the STB taking issue with the TP_Link Network Switch, as there are plenty of reports of Sky equipment behaving oddly on networks using TP_Link Equipment.

I first got involved in the Linux Scene c.2012, with the initial Raspberry Pi model B, which ran the Raspbian OS (now known as Raspberry Pi OS) as its recommended OS. As a consequence, I began to learn the ropes (so to speak) of Debian(based) Linux from around age 10. From that point, I mainly used Debian & Ubuntu (and its derivatives) on my Pi & in Virtual Box on the Family Computer. However, it wasn’t until I reached Sixth Form that I began to experiment with non-Debian (dpkg/apt) derived Distros, owing to lack of familiarity with other package managers. In 2019, I tried Fedora, necessitating the learning of the Dandified Yum (DNF) package manager whilst also getting use to a system with SELinux enforcement.

It was during this time, pre-COVID, that I started to use NixOS - as a consequence of Fubar-ing an Ubuntu Install. I managed to break the Ubuntu install to the point of Kernel Panics on Boot, after attempting to upgrade the Kernel Version, whilst using an OpenZFS file system which, it transpired, was reliant on a DKMS module driver, which I hadn’t realised I had to update. As a consequence, I clean installed NixOS over the Ubuntu Install, as I was not nearly skilled enough to try to recover the Ubuntu Install itself.

Since then, I have begun to experiment with using Docker (And Docker Compose), Cloudflare’s Tunnels, Hugo (which generates this site), TrueNAS Scale & also start to try using BSDs, mainly FreeBSD as well as attempt (without success) to install Gentoo Linux in a VM. However, I’ll be first to admit that I am still very much in the early stages of learning all of these technologies.

In late 2022, I applied and was subsequently recruited as a student consultant to a joint project between my Institution’s (University of Lincoln) Lincoln Academy of Learning & Teaching and my Institution’s Students’ Union, called the Student Futures Manifesto Project, a project that had been proposed by the UPP Foundation to try to mitigate the impact the COVID-19 Pandemic had on higher education. Lincoln was one of 20 such Institutions in the UK to partake, and I was one of Six Students within Lincoln who acted as consultants to the project.

Specifically, I focussed on Support for Students before they reach University and worked hand in hand with Ian Snowley (the Dean of Learning Skills and University Librarian), to produce my report. The report linked above is the result of both Surveys & Focus Groups and is now in its Phase II, in which the recommendations that myself and the other five student consultants proposed are now being tested ready for implementation.

The reports are now available in the University of Lincoln’s LALT e-Journal IMPact (vol. 7 issue 2).

I became aware of Amnesty Int’l from my Mother around 2015, but was unable to obtain membership till the age of 14, which I did on my 14th Birthday. Amnesty ignited a passion in me for fighting injustices around the world, from the asymmetry of the Israel/Palestine Conflict, to the Situation in Hong Kong, and in Europe with its response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis.

Since then, I got involved with local Amnesty Groups, initially the Wirksworth Group owing to its locality and later with the Lincoln Group after moving to attend University. From that point, I acted as a sounding board for the Lincoln group with regard to youth, and since July 2024, I have been the Disabled Students’ Justice Officer on the STAN (Student Action Network) Committee for 2024/25.

As with LaTeX, I found out about NixOS during a Wikipedia Binge, and decided to try it as I have been vaguely involved in the Linux Desktop scene for about 11 Years. As such, the idea of a Functional Paradigm based Package Management System was certainly interesting, and since I had recently fubar’d my Ubuntu Install (due to not understanding DKMS modules and the fact that ZFS on Ubuntu was reliant on them), I thought I’d give NixOS a try.

When I initally installed NixOS, I depended on the Web Manual, and had to do most of the Install Process, drive petitioning etc. in the Terminal. Thankfully, NixOS’s documentation is well written and easy to understand. From that point, I became fairly quickly accustomed to using the /etc/nixos/configuaration.nix file for system and package management, such as setting up Docker and nVidia drivers. I even went as far as to install most software via a very, very long list in my configuration.nix file, such as my desktop environments (Gnome & CDE) and configure sudo to insult me if my password is wrong. Ulitmately, my use of NixOS hasn’t extended to learning the Nix language too much as I seldom have needed to try to make my own flakes or generate derivations for pre-existing packages.

How I found a love for LaTeX.

I first came across LaTeX during a Wikipedia Binge whilst in Sixth Form (Year 12 specifically) and it piqued my interest owing to my strong dislike of the clunky and slow MS Word and the fast but limited Notepad.

So, I began to try to learn LaTeX, at first I struggled, after all, what 17 Year Old would want to learn something almost exclusively used in academic and technical publishing. But the results spoke for themselves, the neat, clear typesetting; the ease of just having to worry about the contents, with the compiler doing all the (not) fun bits of layouts and image placements and the like.

Linked Below 👇🏼 is a link to a LaTeX/Beamer Presentation I made explaining LaTeX, its benefits and its learning curve.