A homelab is like a laboratory for software. Technically it is one or more physical or virtual hardware component with a certain amount of CPU and RAM, a network configuration (including IP addresses, VLANs, firewalls, etc.) and a stack of software. Typically, it is managed by a Kubernetes cluster. and follows the similar conventions and requirements that you would have in a production ready cluster. Still, it is something else. Unlike in a commercial context, a homelab is like a “server” for educational projects. It allows you to try out new frameworks, tools, communication technologies, databases, etc. and to deploy them in a production ready environment. While we as software developers often create little project for trying things out and have them on our disk, a homelab invites you to go the extra mile and to deploy them.
My Homelab
When I have some free time, I like to develop Stufe in my homelab. See documentation about my homelab, here: My Homelab
Benefits
Building a homelab takes some effort. But when it is there, it brings various benefits. For more, see homelab - benefits
Use-cases and inspiration
The topic “homelab” is closely related to the topic “self-hosting”. I found a nice github repository where various ideas for self-hosting ideas were collected. See github - awesome-selfhosted
Also I found the very inspiring homelab by Mischa Van Den Burg. See github - mischa - homelab.