HOMELAB on hun.io

My new iPhone

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

My current phone Link to heading

In December of 2022, I bought a refurbished iPhone X, and it has been a great daily driver. Even today, the battery still gets me through a full day of light use, and the camera continues to take incredible photos and videos. It’s been outstanding for a phone that released in September of 2017 - over eight years ago now.

My new gaming PC

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

My current gaming setup - A2 Link to heading

After recently downsizing my homelab, my original intention was to keep using my Windows 11 VM with my 2TB SSD and RTX A2000 passed into it, whom I’ve aptly named A2. :)

While this worked great using Apollo as the server - especially for its ability to dynamically change resolution based on a client using Moonlight - this approach did have its pros and cons.

Cooling the A2000 in my MS-01

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The problem Link to heading

A few weeks ago, I completed my homelab downsize, and it’s been absolutely amazing. Virtually perfect, except for one problem. In my Minisforum MS-01, the A2000 with its custom N3rdware cooler reaches temperatures that are way too high for comfort.

Sometimes the card idles around 70°C, climbing easily to 96°C during gaming or LLM workloads, and takes forever to cool back down. Adjusting the fan curve, downclocking the card, and setting temperature limits didn’t help much - temperatures were still uncomfortably high.

My new downsized homelab

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

My current homelab Link to heading

Since I started my homelab journey in 2018, it has changed tremendously - from a pile of reused hardware to building new servers, and eventually consolidating everything into a 19" 12U rack.

It’s not actually in the bathroom - I just like this picture. :)

A few years ago, I took on a project to combine everything into one little 2U box, all in the name of downsizing my primary hardware. This meant I had my NAS, core services, gaming PC, cybersecurity VMs, and more - all tidied up in a small 2U DIY case that ran quiet, cool, and still offered enough expansion for the future.

Repairing a $39 Framework motherboard

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Framework mystery boxes Link to heading

Framework, a company focused on manufacturing repairable and modular devices, offers a cool product called a mystery box. These mystery boxes contain various components that have been returned from their service centers, and instead of wasting the hardware, Framework instead puts together random assortments and sells them to the community for fun!

I’ve always wanted to get one, and about a week ago, I got an email saying that the Framework mystery boxes are now back in stock. I quickly jumped to the listing, only to see a new and interesting listing, being a mainboard mystery box.

We made a video game!

Sun, 02 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Within the last week, a group of friends and I spontaneously decided to compete in the 2025 Global Game Jam, a yearly competition where teams of any size have 48 hours to create a video game based on a specific theme.

Being cybersecurity students with absolutely zero game design experience, we thought this would be a tremendously fun weekend project and challenge, so we decided to participate!

This year’s theme was bubbles, so we needed to brainstorm a bit.

How I built my blog

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

With the release of my first blogpost on this new site, I also wanted to do a quick writeup on what I did to build it! This setup is heavily inspired by NetworkChuck’s Obsidian + Hugo video, as this was perfect for my use, so definitely consider checking out his video too!

Tooling Link to heading

My blogpost workflow revolves around two amazing tools:

Obsidian is a markdown-based note-taking tool meant to link ideas and notes. I use Obsidian for absolutely everything and have full intentions on sharing my Obsidian system in the future!
Hugo is a free, open-source static website generator known for its ease of use and configurability. The plan is any content written in Obsidian can easily be copied into Hugo and displayed as a separate blogpost.

Generating a Hugo Website Link to heading

Start by installing Hugo from the official installation page and install it based on your platform. I’m using macOS for everything, but the command should be the same.

I bought a 2013 Macbook Air

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I decided to pick up an old 11-inch 2013 Macbook Air on eBay. When Action Retro released this phenomenal video about putting Linux on an old Macbook Air, I was heavily inspired to do this for myself.

With the M1 being the only laptop I own right now, why would I need another one? Aside from loving older hardware, I do have a few needs for a second device.

Upgrading my server

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Throughout my time on Substack and YouTube, I’ve only very briefly mentioned my server and never really dived into the details at all.

As I’ve mentioned in my previous article, I do want this to change, and I have since been devoting tons of my spare time toward my home lab, offensive security, and related projects/extracurriculars, all of which are used on my server.

With the large increase in use, I’m going to need to make some upgrades to my server, mostly regarding networking and memory.

Building my own router

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been wanting to build my own router, as there are so many benefits.

From self-hosting my own DNS server, whole-home ad-blocking, hosting my own VPN, and more, the possibilities are endless. I’ve kind of procrastinated this project for a while, but the catalyst for doing it now was our home upgrade to fiber internet.

When our new ISP arrived, their DHCP range was completely different than mine, which knocked my entire HomeLab offline. This was right before my trip to DEFCON, so I couldn’t spend any time reassigning my IP addresses.

One week with my Framework laptop

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Hey there! Hope you are doing well.

This is the Framework laptop, and it’s been one of my dream systems since its release in July of 2021.

For those who don’t know, the Framework laptop is a consumer and right-to-repair focused device. It’s modular, repairable, and recently, Framework has followed their promise for making the laptop upgradable with the release of 12th-Gen Intel motherboards.

Why didn’t I buy one immediately? Link to heading

Upon its release, it was dearly loved by many. I would have picked a Framework up immediately had I not purchased my M1 Macbook Air roughly a week prior. Not only this, but I was also concerned about the longevity of the company.