A "HomeLab"[^1] is a computer you own, that runs constantly, but you typically rarely interact with directly. Homelabs can be made from any sort of computer, from an old laptop, to a Network-Attached Storage device with additional compute power, to a [[Raspberry Pi]]. You could probably even call the dedicated [[HomeAssistant]] boxes some version of a "home lab". HomeLabs can be used to provide services like: - [[HomeAssistant]] - for managing your smart home - Plex - your own local version of Netflix or Spotify - Any number of alternatives to Google Photos - Self-hosted audiobook services - Pi-hole - an ad-blocker for your whole network HomeLabs consist of: - Storage - Compute - Networking Some folks buy whole server racks and rack-mounted computers. I'm interested in dabbling with it. **** # More ## Source - self [^1]: maybe "home lab" or "homelab" or "Homelab", etc.