An ever updated list of the hardware and software that I make use of in my homelab and daily use.

Inspired by Paul Stamatiou‘s post about the stuff he uses daily, I thought I would do the same. Not only to let people get an idea of what I use daily but also so I can keep track of the hardware/software that I have installed.

Desktop

My Setup as of July 22nd, 2025 (Picture needs updated still.)

Server

Server Rack – July 22nd, 2025

  • Intel Core i7-8700K – I wanted to make sure I had enough power no matter what I threw at the server. Everything is running in its own Docker container, and I have plenty of resources left.

  • Crucial Pro 64GB DDR4 – 32GB worked well for me, but 64GB seemed like it would be better yet. Especially since I have been running more docker containers on the server.

  • 2x WD_BLACK 1TB SN770 NVMe – I had 2 of these laying around (It sounds weird saying that), anyways I used one for / and while I was going to do a RAID array I ended up mounting the other simply for holding the docker containers I run.

  • Lsi Logic 179356 Controller Card 05-25703-00 9305-16i 16-port – I needed something to handle all of the drives, this fit the bill very well.

  • 7x 28TB Seagate Exos  – Moved all of my data to a RAID2Z ZFS array within the server running on 7x Seagate Exos with 2 failovers. This still provides me with 120TB of redundant storage.

  • 5x Samsung SSD 870 500GB  – I have had good experience with these SSD’s at work so I ended up picking up the same kind to use for the ZFS Cache, SLOG, and Special VDEV. For the price, performance and reliability I figured it was a good option.

  • 2x Western Digital 1TB NvME SN770 – Upgaded from the smaller Samsung to using two of these

  • 10Gtek 10Gb Dual RJ45 Port Network Card - I needed a better network card to work with the Unifi Aggregation Switch that I put into place.

  • ASUS Prime Z370-A II – I don’t recally exactly why I landed on this motherboard years ago when I first built the server, but either way it has ended up working out really well.

  • NVIDIA Quadro P2000 – This was added after the initial build as I wanted to offload some of the heavy lifting to a CPU.  I can now transcode up to 23 streams without hitting the CPU.

  • 3x CyberPower OR2200 2100VA/1650W – Went from the two Tripp Lites to three of these. I was able to distribute the devices across the three devices to provide optimal uptime.

Network

  • NavePoint 18U rack – The most recent upgrade, so much nicer than having everything on a baker’s rack.

  • Ultimate Dream Machine Pro (UDM-Pro) – To keep my network as fast as possible and with the newest hardware, I upgraded to the UDM-Pro and am glad I did. It has helped me to max out my download and upload speeds.

  • Unifi Aggregation Switch (USW-Aggregation) – With the upgraded internet speeds I had a need for a faster network internally. This allowed for me to upgrade some of the devices to 10GB

  • UniFi Switch – 24 Ports Managed (US-24-250W) – This was also an upgrade, as I didn’t account for future devices. I started with an eight-port switch, then 2, and then three before finally selling them off and replacing them with this beast.

  • UniFi Switch – 16 Ports Managed (US-16-150W) – I picked this up from a friend of mine and am using it in the utility room with a fiber connection back to the Unifi Aggregation Switch.

  • USW-Lite-8-PoE (USW-Lite-8-PoE) – This provides extended internet connectivity in the garage for now.

  • 5x UniFi 5 port switch (USW-Flex-Mini) – I wanted to bring some hardwired locations to various areas of the house, and this helped in doing so with their small footprints. 

  • 7x Unifi6 Pro (U6-Pro-US) – With more and more of the devices on my network having Wi-Fi6, it was only a matter of time until it made sense to upgrade all of the access points to utilize Wi-Fi6.

  • MetroNet 2GB/1GB Fiber Internet – After waiting two years, MetroNet finally finished their build-out in my area. It was well worth the wait as it is a fraction of the cost of Xfinity and the stable speeds that they provide are simply fantastic. I recently upgraded from the 1GB/1GB to their 2GB/1GB speeds since it was less than $20 to upgrade tax included.

Audio / Video recording

I don’t really have a need for high-end video calls, or video recordings so a lot of this has been packed and is in storage.

Software

  • Safari – Since the newest release, I have switched to Safari full-time, only using Chrome for random site testing.

  • Brave – While I use Safari for everything, I also use Brave daily, mainly for personal use, e.g., non-work-related stuff.

  • 1Password – I couldn’t imagine daily operations without 1Password.

  • Obsidian – I use this app constantly for keep notes, clipping sites, you name it. The paid sync service is amazing and works flawlessly for me; so far.

  • Alfred – This app boosted my productivity by allowing me to keep my hands on the keyboard instead of using the mouse to navigate/launch apps.

  • Transmit – Simply the best FTP client for OSX

  • TextMate2 – I gave Sublime a couple of tries, but Texmate2 works how I need it to.

  • Sequel Ace – When you need to access MySQL/MariaDB databases all day, this is a must.