This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/selfhosted by /u/kingshit909 on 2025-05-17 05:31:26+00:00.
About a year ago, I started my homelab journey with a simple Windows Server VM on Proxmox. At the time, I was just running Plex and some basic SMB shares. It worked — but I knew there was a better, more efficient way to do things. I just didn’t know where to begin.
Thanks to this community, I found the direction, guidance, and encouragement I needed to grow. Fast forward to today, and I’ve completely transformed my setup:
Everything is now running in lightweight LXC containers with bind mounts
I’ve replaced Plex with Emby, and run the full arr suite
I added Nginx Proxy Manager, Home Assistant (HAOS), Paperless-ngx, and more
All of this runs smoothly on just 6GB of RAM and minimal CPU
The performance difference is huge, but what really excites me is how much I’ve learned in the process — about Linux, file permissions, networking, containerization, and system design. These are skills I now actively use in my professional work, and they’ve made me a much more capable and confident sysadmin.
Next up: I’m diving into Docker and Kubernetes, aiming to take my setup even further with container orchestration and scalable deployments. I know there’s a lot to learn, but this community has shown me that it’s absolutely doable.
So to everyone who answers questions, shares screenshots, writes guides, and takes time to help others — thank you. You’ve helped me grow immensely, and I’m genuinely grateful.
If you're on the fence about taking that next step in your homelab — go for it. You'll be surprised what a year of tinkering can teach you.