Rajeev Kumar

Overview

Built a full enterprise-simulated home lab using Proxmox VE as the bare-metal hypervisor. Hosts 8+ virtual machines and LXC containers running Windows Server, Ubuntu, pfSense, and TrueNAS.

Tools & Technologies

Step-by-Step

1. Downloaded Proxmox VE ISO and flashed to USB; booted installer on dedicated hardware.
2. Configured static IP, hostname, and root password; accessed web UI at port 8006.
3. Set up ZFS storage pool on secondary drives for VM disk images and backups.
4. Created VM templates for Ubuntu Server and Windows Server for fast provisioning.
5. Deployed LXC containers for lightweight services (Nginx Proxy Manager, Portainer).
6. Configured automated backups to TrueNAS via Proxmox Backup Server.

Challenges & Solutions

• IOMMU/VT-d not enabled — resolved by editing GRUB boot parameters and reloading vfio modules.
• Network bridge misconfigured — fixed by editing /etc/network/interfaces and restarting networking.

Outcome & Learning

Gained hands-on experience with enterprise hypervisor management, storage provisioning, and network virtualization. The lab serves as a sandbox for all other projects.

Overview

Deployed pfSense as the primary firewall and router. Configured VLANs to isolate lab, IoT, media, and trusted device traffic with firewall rules controlling inter-VLAN communication.

Tools & Technologies

Step-by-Step

1. Installed pfSense on a mini-PC with dual NICs; set WAN to DHCP from ISP modem.
2. Created 4 VLANs: Trusted, Lab/Proxmox, IoT, and Media with unique subnets.
3. Configured DHCP scopes and DNS Resolver with internal hostname overrides.
4. Wrote firewall rules: lab unrestricted; IoT blocked from trusted; media internet-only.
5. Tested isolation using ping and tracert from each VLAN segment.

Challenges & Solutions

• Managed switch needed 802.1Q VLAN tagging — resolved via switch CLI configuration.
• DNS leakage between VLANs — fixed by placing block rules before allow rules.

Outcome & Learning

Developed real-world firewall and network segmentation skills mirroring enterprise architecture. Greatly improved overall lab security posture.

Overview

Installed Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS inside Proxmox with QEMU Guest Agent for proper VM lifecycle management, in-guest IP reporting, and safe snapshot support.

Tools & Technologies

Step-by-Step

1. Created new VM in Proxmox with Ubuntu 22.04 ISO; configured disk, CPU, and RAM.
2. Completed Ubuntu install with static IP, SSH enabled, no GUI for minimal footprint.
3. Installed qemu-guest-agent via apt and enabled/started the systemd service.
4. Enabled QEMU Agent in Proxmox VM options; verified IP in Proxmox summary panel.
5. Tested graceful shutdown and freeze-safe snapshots via Proxmox web UI.
6. Created VM template from configured image for rapid future deployment.

Challenges & Solutions

• Agent installed but not communicating — confirmed virtio channel device was in VM hardware config.
• SSH access denied — verified ufw status and added allow rule for port 22.

Outcome & Learning

Mastered Linux server deployment in a virtualized environment. Template workflow directly applicable to enterprise automation and rapid provisioning.

Overview

Deployed Windows Server 2022 and configured AD DS with full OU structure, user accounts, security groups, and GPOs to simulate an enterprise environment.

Tools & Technologies

Step-by-Step

1. Installed Windows Server 2022 on Proxmox VM with static IP; renamed to DC01.
2. Promoted to Domain Controller; created new forest: lab.local.
3. Built OU structure: IT, HR, Finance, Management — mirroring a real org chart.
4. Created 20+ user accounts and assigned to appropriate OUs and security groups.
5. Configured GPOs: password policy, desktop wallpaper enforcement, software restrictions.
6. Joined a Windows 10 VM to the domain; verified policy with gpresult /r.
7. Used PowerShell scripts to bulk-create users from a CSV file.

Challenges & Solutions

• Domain join failed — resolved by pointing client DNS to DC's static IP.
• GPO not applying — ran gpupdate /force and verified via RSOP.

Outcome & Learning

Proficiency in core Windows Server administration — the most commonly tested skill in IT support interviews. Can confidently manage users, policies, and permissions in AD environments.

Overview

Deployed TrueNAS Scale as a dedicated NAS on a Proxmox VM with PCI passthrough. Configured ZFS RAID-Z2 pools, automated snapshots, and SMB/NFS shares accessible across all VLANs.

Tools & Technologies

Step-by-Step

1. Installed TrueNAS Scale on a Proxmox VM with HBA passthrough using IOMMU.
2. Created ZFS pool with 4 drives in RAID-Z2 configuration for redundancy.
3. Created datasets for media, backups, VM images, and documents with quotas.
4. Set up SMB shares for Windows clients and NFS shares for Linux/Proxmox targets.
5. Configured snapshot schedules: hourly/24h, daily/30 days, weekly/6 months.
6. Tested data integrity with ZFS scrub; verified snapshot restore.

Challenges & Solutions

• HBA passthrough unstable — resolved by isolating IOMMU group and blacklisting host drivers.
• SMB permissions not inheriting — fixed by aligning ACLs with dataset permission settings.

Outcome & Learning

Deep understanding of ZFS storage architecture and network file sharing. TrueNAS now serves as the central backup and file-sharing hub for the entire lab.

Overview

Built a unified monitoring solution using Grafana backed by Prometheus with node exporters deployed across all Linux and Windows servers in the home lab.

Tools & Technologies

Step-by-Step

1. Deployed Prometheus and Grafana in Docker containers on a dedicated Ubuntu LXC.
2. Installed node_exporter on all Linux VMs as a systemd service.
3. Deployed windows_exporter on Windows VMs via MSI installer.
4. Added all exporters as scrape targets in prometheus.yml.
5. Imported community Grafana dashboards as a starting point; customized per host.
6. Configured alerting for high CPU usage and low disk space via email notifications.

Challenges & Solutions

• Windows Exporter port 9182 blocked — added inbound rule via PowerShell.
• High memory on low-RAM VM — tuned Prometheus scrape interval from 15s to 60s.

Outcome & Learning

Real-time visibility into all lab systems. Learned observability principles that apply directly to enterprise tools like Datadog, Zabbix, and SCOM used in production.

Overview

Deployed Home Assistant as a self-hosted smart home controller running on TrueNAS Scale. Integrated Wi-Fi and IoT devices via MQTT, enabled live RTSP security camera streams, and built automation triggers for lights, locks, and sensors — all managed from a single dashboard without any cloud dependency.

Tools & Technologies

Step-by-Step

1. Deployed Home Assistant as a Docker container on TrueNAS Scale with a dedicated dataset for persistent config storage.
2. Installed and configured Mosquitto MQTT broker; paired Wi-Fi smart plugs, bulbs, and sensors via MQTT discovery.
3. Integrated Zigbee devices using a USB Zigbee coordinator and Zigbee2MQTT, exposing all devices to Home Assistant automatically.
4. Added RTSP security cameras using the Generic Camera integration and enabled go2rtc for low-latency live stream viewing in the dashboard.
5. Built automation triggers: motion-activated lights, door-open alerts via push notification, and auto-lock routines on departure.
6. Used Node-RED for complex conditional automations beyond the built-in automation editor.
7. Configured remote access via Nginx reverse proxy with SSL so the dashboard is reachable securely from outside the home network.

Challenges & Solutions

• RTSP streams lagging in browser — switched from default HLS to go2rtc WebRTC relay for sub-second latency.
• Zigbee device pairing failures — resolved by moving the USB coordinator to a USB extension cable away from USB 3.0 interference.
• MQTT device state lost on reboot — fixed by enabling persistent sessions and retained messages in Mosquitto config.

Outcome & Learning

Built a fully local, cloud-free smart home system with 20+ connected devices and 3 security cameras. Gained hands-on experience with IoT protocols (MQTT, Zigbee, Z-Wave), real-time video streaming (RTSP/WebRTC), and event-driven automation logic — all directly transferable to enterprise IoT and building management environments.

Overview

Deployed a production-grade self-hosted media server using Jellyfin in a Docker container on TrueNAS Scale. Configured Nginx as a reverse proxy with Let's Encrypt SSL, enabled hardware-accelerated transcoding via Intel QuickSync, and automated media acquisition using the full 'Arr suite (Sonarr, Radarr, Prowlarr) — all reverse-proxied and containerized.

Tools & Technologies

Step-by-Step

1. Deployed Jellyfin via Docker Compose on TrueNAS Scale, mounting NFS shares from the ZFS pool as media library volumes.
2. Configured Nginx Proxy Manager as a reverse proxy in a separate container, pointed the domain to Jellyfin, and provisioned a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate — enabling HTTPS access over a custom domain.
3. Enabled Intel QuickSync hardware transcoding by passing the /dev/dri device into the Jellyfin container and setting the transcoding codec to Intel QSV in the admin dashboard — reducing CPU transcoding load by ~85%.
4. Deployed Sonarr (TV), Radarr (movies), and Prowlarr (indexer management) as separate Docker containers; configured all three to auto-import completed downloads directly into Jellyfin's watched library folders.
5. Set up inter-container networking via a Docker bridge network so all 'Arr services communicate internally without exposing unnecessary ports.
6. Configured Jellyfin metadata scrapers (TMDB, TVDB) and artwork agents for full library organization with posters and subtitles.

Challenges & Solutions

• QuickSync not detected inside container — fixed by adding the container user to the render and video groups and mapping /dev/dri correctly in compose.
• SSL certificate renewal failing — resolved by switching from standalone to webroot challenge mode in Nginx Proxy Manager's built-in ACME client.
• Sonarr unable to reach Jellyfin for library refresh — fixed by placing all containers on the same named Docker bridge network and using container hostnames instead of IPs.
• NFS mount losing connection after TrueNAS snapshot — set NFS mount options to hard,nointr to reconnect automatically.

Outcome & Learning

Built an end-to-end automated media pipeline: content is discovered, downloaded, organized, and made available for streaming — all without manual intervention. Demonstrates real-world Docker networking, reverse proxy configuration, SSL certificate management, hardware passthrough in containers, and multi-service orchestration — skills directly applicable to DevOps, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise application deployment roles.