👋 About the Author
Hi, I’m Bernard — a full-stack tinkerer and systems architect who believes that every great build starts with curiosity and a few inevitable mistakes.
I spend my time exploring the intersection of code, automation, and home-lab engineering, turning Raspberry Pis, Docker containers, and open-source tools into something a little smarter — and a lot more personal.
This blog isn’t just a showcase of what I’ve built — it’s a record of the process: the bugs I chased, the lessons I learned, and the moments that finally clicked. My goal is simple — to help others avoid the same pitfalls and get to their “it finally works!” moment faster.
When I’m not tweaking containers or refining UI logic, you’ll probably find me documenting the next iteration — because perfection isn’t a destination, it’s a cycle.
💡 “Build. Break. Learn. Share.”
That’s the loop I live by.
🖥️ My Current Homelab Stack
I self-host the following on my network:
- OpenMediaVault on a Raspberry Pi 5 (NVMe boot)
My central NAS and storage server, optimized for performance and reliability. The Pi 5 with NVMe provides much faster read/write speeds compared to microSD storage. - Home Assistant (Container Mode)
My smart home brain, running in Docker for full control and flexibility. Add-ons are managed externally, keeping HA lean and avoiding Supervisor restrictions. - MagicMirror in Docker
A customizable smart mirror display for live data, calendars, weather, and more — all containerized for easy updates and portability. - Portainer
My Docker management dashboard. Makes deploying, updating, and monitoring containers much easier, without endless CLI commands. - Jellyfin
My self-hosted media server for home videos and other media. Fully open-source, private, and accessible anywhere. - Immich
My AI-powered photo and video backup platform. Automatically uploads from devices and organizes my photo collection without sending data to the cloud. - Uptime-Kuma
My service monitor, alerting me if any of my self-hosted services go down. - AdGuard Home
My DNS-level ad/tracker blocker. It filters requests before they leave my network, improving privacy and speeding up browsing. - Syncthing
Keeps my photos and home videos synced across devices and auto-uploads them to OMV. No cloud storage dependency. - NGINX Proxy Manager
Reverse proxies and secures my services behind HTTPS, making them accessible externally in a controlled way. - Tailscale
Creates a private mesh VPN so I can securely access my homelab from anywhere without opening public ports.
🔐 Security & Privacy
When I decided to put my Hugo blog online, my main concern was: “How do I expose services without risking my internal network?”
The solution was a layered security approach:
- Cloudflare Tunnel Handles HTTPS, hides my server’s real IP, and blocks direct access from the internet.
- reconYa
My internal network scanner and reconnaissance tool. Helps me stay aware of connected devices and potential weak points. - Suricata
A powerful intrusion detection and prevention system (IDS/IPS) that monitors network traffic and can block suspicious activity. - AdGuard Home
Filters DNS requests to block malicious domains and trackers before they even reach the browser.
With these tools combined, I get the flexibility of public access with the peace of mind that my network is hardened against most common attack vectors.