My Journey into Home Servers and Unraid
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| My 1st Server |
I remember when I first set up my home server back in 2011. What was my objective? Why did it come about? Initially, my plan was simple: to store files, music, and documents using Windows OS as a basic file server. Those were the days when digital media was becoming increasingly popular.
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| It was a very tight casing |
As a geeky person, I wanted more. I began exploring ways to set up a NAS or more advanced file server. That’s when I discovered Windows Home Server—which, by the way, has since reached end-of-life (EOL), as Microsoft discontinued it due to limited market demand. I used it until around 2013, then transitioned to Windows Server 2013 Essentials. Eventually, I discovered Unraid—and fell in love with it.
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| My 2nd Server become bigger |
Why Unraid?
Unraid is a flexible Linux-based operating system packed with powerful features:
- 🗄️ NAS storage capabilities
- 🐳 Docker support
- 🖥️ Ability to host multiple virtual machines (VMs)
- 🌐 Web-based management interface
- 👥 Strong community support
- ⚡ Energy efficiency, with control over hard disk spin-up and redundancy
Over the years, Unraid has evolved into what many now call a "HomeLab"—a personal tech playground built with affordable hardware and accessible software, often deployed via Docker containers.
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| My 3rd server and even bigger than before |
It’s like having your own mini server setup, where you can tinker with technology in a sandbox environment and experiment with new software without disrupting your main services. You could call it tech DIY for grown-ups 😄.
Building My Network
When I first started, I wanted all services to run from a single server. I bought a gigabit Ethernet 4-port NIC and set up an enterprise-grade software router using pfSense. The performance was unmatched, especially with ad-blocking plugins.
However, there was one major issue: whenever my Unraid server went down, my entire local network went down with it. Not ideal—especially when you’re sharing a household!
Eventually, I separated the router component and replaced it with a lightweight but powerful hardware router running OpenWRT. This way, even if I need to restart Unraid, my network stays up. I’m pretty happy with this setup—it only consumes about 5 watts via USB-A and runs AdGuard for ad blocking.
Current Setup
Instead of running a reverse proxy server, I now use:
- 🌐 Cloudflare Tunnel for apps that needs to exposure to public
- 🔒 Tailscale for apps that I will only use internally and not exposing to public
My Unraid server has grown into a multi-purpose powerhouse:
- 🎮 Game server
- 🎬 Media server
- 📦 App server
- 🏠 Smart home server
- 🤖 AI-related services
Looking Ahead
AI technology has been exploding lately. New tools and frameworks are making it easier than ever to integrate AI into everyday workflows. I’ve started experimenting with automation using platforms like n8n and MCP. I just wish I had more time to dive deeper!
In future articles, I plan to share more about the specific tools and setups I use with my Unraid server. Stay tuned!
