Proxmox homelab
A small Proxmox lab I set up to practise virtualisation, networking and monitoring.
Conceptual relationships. No private addresses or live topology.
Why I built it
I set up a small virtualised lab on a refurbished mini PC. The challenge was to make it useful for experiments without letting it interfere with the rest of my home network.
Getting the pieces working together
Give lab machines controlled access to the internet while keeping experimental traffic separated from my everyday devices.
- Installed Proxmox VE on an HP EliteDesk Mini and organised separate virtual networks for management and lab traffic.
- Configured an OPNsense virtual firewall and a Windows-based connection for controlled internet access.
- Added monitoring with Checkmk and infrastructure records in NetBox, then investigated connectivity and configuration issues as they appeared.
One thing I learnt
The hardest part was tracing why lab traffic was taking the wrong route. Checking one interface and rule at a time worked better than changing several things and hoping for the best.
This is a simplified illustration, not the real topology of my home network. IP addresses, configuration files and administrative details are deliberately excluded.