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Core Lab Joe

Core Lab Joe

Canada
Dad, IT guy, Self-Hosting Evangelist! https://www.reddit.com/r/corelabtech/
05
Jul
Cloudflare is everywhere...

Cloudflare Protection for Homelabs: OPNsense, DDNS, & Wildcard Setup

Stop exposing your home IP. Learn how to use Cloudflare's free tier with OPNsense to secure your homelab. Includes DDNS setup, wildcard CNAMEs, and IP masking.
13 min read
30
Jun
Homelab VLANs Explained: Network Segmentation & Inter-VLAN Routing

Homelab VLANs Explained: Network Segmentation & Inter-VLAN Routing

Learn how VLANs work in a homelab, how network segmentation improves security, and how inter-VLAN routing connects separated networks.
7 min read
28
Jun
Introductory flow of a homelab network from internet to your selfhosted services.

Homelab Networking Basics: A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Home Networks

Networking is the foundation of every homelab. Your LAN (local area network) at home, good ole' 127.0.0.
11 min read
02
May
Face/Off - Quick breakdown of the most popular NAS OS in 2026.

The Best NAS OS of 2026: Beyond Synology & Vendor Lock-in

I'm all for a custom NAS and sold my Synology in 2023, however there's a lot
14 min read
01
May
A picture showing on the left side a real castle, and on the right it's being 'digitized' and in cyberspace with blue and purple accents and grids.

The Ultimate Homelab Security Guide (2026): Hardening SWAG, Authelia, and CrowdSec

Throughout my 20+ years in IT, I’ve consistently advocated for a layered and dynamic security approach – a strategy where
29 min read
28
Apr
Banner titled Securing Digital Infrastructure featuring SWAG and NGINX logos with a firewall shield icon on a digital circuit background.

Self-Hosting SWAG: The Ultimate NGINX Reverse Proxy Guide (2026 Edition)

Setting up a secure gateway for your homelab doesn't have to mean dealing with bulky web GUIs or
16 min read
24
Apr
Layers protecting your services from the evil of the internet, and only allowing authorized through.

The Self-Hosting Roadmap: From Localhost to Public URL (Safely)

From Localhost to Public URL. A step-by-step architecture guide for self-hosting securely using Cloudflare, OPNsense, and Nginx Proxy Manager.
9 min read
24
Apr
Comic book style picture of an "upright" mounted RTX4090 with the caption "POWERED UP."

The Architecture of Transcoding: NVENC vs. QuickSync & The AV1 Future (2026)

You've seen, read or heard a lot about transcoding since you've begun your streaming media idealization
19 min read
22
Apr
Split screen showing Plex Media Server library home screen and OpenMediaVault 8 (OMV8) Dashboard workbench interface.

The Ultimate OMV8 & Plex Media Server Guide (2026): Build Your Own 100TB NAS

Are you sitting on a massive media collection but still struggling to stream it reliably? Whether you’ve got 20+
8 min read
22
Apr
A picture of Core Lab Custom Server/NAS while being built, on a floor beside oragizer bin, with drive cables hanging out and side, top panels removed.

The "Core Lab" Monster: My 80+TB DIY NAS Build (2026)

Forget off-the-shelf simplicity. Explore the architecture of a 17-drive, 80TB+ DIY NAS. From enterprise SAS hardware to ZFS pool optimization, this is the blueprint for a "forever" server built for maximum data density and local ownership.
18 min read