Latest Posts
09
Jun
New from Core Lab: Linux Gaming Showcas, 1 Year of Running A Tech Blog, more to come
It’s been an intense couple weeks in the Lab, but I've cooked up some great stuff... Today,
4 min read
09
Jun
🎮 Gaming on CachyOS: Why I Ditched Legacy Distros for Bleeding-Edge FPS (2026)
Maximize your frame times. Discover why CachyOS is the ultimate Linux gaming distro, how to configure the Hydra launcher with Debrid, and fix stubborn HDR & audio bugs.
13 min read
09
Jun
Fighting the AI Slop: Year 1 Metrics, Costs, and Lessons Self-Hosting a Ghost Tech Blog
A raw look at Year 1 metrics, real electricity costs, and traffic sources for an independent, self-hosted Ghost tech blog fighting internet AI slop.
8 min read
03
Jun
The Ultimate 18-Drive Self-Hosted Monolith: Why the Fractal Design Define 7 XL is Still the Best Home Server Case in 2026
A long-term review of the Fractal Design Define 7 XL configured as an 18-drive custom DIY NAS and home server running 58 Docker containers, Home Assistant, and n8n natively.
10 min read
27
May
When Power Outages Break Everything: Recovering an OMV8 NAS After Filesystem Corruption, Kernel Drift, and DKMS Failure
A complete technical post-mortem and recovery guide for OpenMediaVault 8 after rolling power failures corrupt the boot SSD, drift kernels, and break DKMS blocks.
10 min read
27
May
SSD-Deaths & NAS Upgrades, Ghost CMS Home Assistant and Massive Real-Debrid shock & awe!
It’s been a bit quiet around here (Core Lab) lately as I’ve been under the weather (sudden health
4 min read
27
May
How to Integrate Ghost CMS with Home Assistant Natively (2026 Guide)
Stop wasting time checking dashboards. Learn how to natively connect Ghost CMS to Home Assistant to monitor MRR, subscribers, and trigger custom automation.
9 min read
22
May
Real-Debrid ‘Infringing File’ Errors: Best Sonarr, Radarr & Stremio Fixes (2026)
Real-Debrid now blocks many releases with automated filtering, causing “infringing file” errors in Sonarr, Radarr, Decypharr and Stremio. Here’s how to filter blocked keywords, fix queues, and keep your media stack running in 2026.
9 min read
12
May
Visualization, Stronger Ingress & Giving your Homelab a Physical
Over the last few weeks, Core Lab has been in full build mode.
What started as a handful of isolated
6 min read
12
May
The SATA Pivot: Mitigating IOPS Bottlenecks in a 18+ Drive Homelab
Is your ZFS array thrashing under Docker logs? You don't need a new server; you need a better bus. Learn how moving my OS to USB reclaimed SATA III ports for SSD caching - solving IOPS bottlenecks and extending drive life for under $20.
8 min read