Peter Mac

Lessons from the Lab: Multi-VLAN Networking on Proxmox with a UDM Pro

Setting up Proxmox in a multi-VLAN environment sounds straightforward on paper. But when I started configuring my own home lab with a UniFi Dream Machine Pro (UDM Pro) managing the network and several VLANs in play I quickly discovered that getting Proxmox to behave across VLANs is more art than science.

When running a stable home server with Docker containers for services like Traefik (reverse proxy), Plex (media server), Calibre (e-book library), Home Assistant, Mosquitto (MQTT), and Zigbee2MQTT, it’s natural to ask: should I stick with Docker on bare metal or move to Proxmox Virtual Environment (PVE)? 

A couple of lessons I’ve learned along the way to smooth the HA journey to minimise outages and keep the sanity of your family intact by avoiding the failure of any of the automations they’ve all come to expect as standard.

This is an extract from a plan outlining key tasks I use as a guide to technology consuting in a new organisation. Depending on the nature of the engagement, there are some elements that are more prominent than others, but it’s a starting point for getting stuff ‘DONE’ in the first 3 or so months of an engagement. It needs to be culled depending on role i.e. General technology consulting of specific enterprise architect.

Creating an automated development sandbox so I don’t waste time wondering what I broke last.

I use a long term Linode server as a test and learn playground. I find it useful to have a non mission-critical server to which I can test out various tools and services on. Unfortunately, over time this box by its very nature is prone to tech drift as I look back at my command history, I can see the times where I’ve installed lots of experimental libraries, repositories and other software versions. The idea with this project is to create the ability at any time to go back to basics, nuke the box and start playing all over again with ansible used for automation of the setup and install.

When starting a home automation setup in a new (or existing) property, several key points of consideration should be made to ensure high availability of services and overall system efficiency.

Embarking on the journey of home automation can feel like stepping into a realm filled with endless possibilities and, admittedly, a bit of confusion.

Background

When I first dived into this world, the array of protocols - Z-Wave, Matter, Zigbee, and more - felt overwhelming. Through trial, error, and a lot of learning, I’ve found a setup that works seamlessly for me, centered around Zigbee and Home Assistant. Here’s a breakdown of what I wish I knew when starting out, and how different protocols differ and operate.

As an IT solution architect, the impact of AI, both generative and traditional, on my role is expected to be profound and multifaceted over the next few years. Here a list of the ways I think AI is likely to influence responsibilities and the broader IT architecture landscape:

Initial decision to migrate my website from Wordpress to a Static Site Generation platform in January 2024 and the resaerch into the best tool for the job.

Orininally planned in Jan 2024, but only executed in August 2024.