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Core Lab Joe

Core Lab Joe

Dad, IT guy, Self-Hosting Evangelist! https://www.reddit.com/r/corelabtech/

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A picture showing the top of my server showing the USB3.0 enclosure connected to a USB3.0 port on the Fractal Design Define 7 XL. — Top of my server showing the USB3.0 enclosure connected to a USB3.0 port on the Fractal Design Define 7 XL.

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.

A picture of Core Lab's own Codex NAS & Server, she's a dusty girl before my bi-annual cleaning attack! — Core Lab's own Codex NAS & Server, she's a dusty girl before my bi-annual cleaning attack!

🛠️ The Homelab Physical: A Guide to Annual & Bi-Annual Maintenance

Neglect is the quiet killer of uptime. Don't let dust or "chip creep" sabotage your ZFS pools. This guide covers essential bi-annual routines - from LSI HBA cooling to reseating the "Big Three" - to keep your custom server healthy for the long haul.

A screenshot of Homelable Canvas and WebGUI showing a complex homelab setup with many containers, docker stacks and connections streaming everywhere — Homelable Canvas WebGUI in all it's Glory! Ok, I have more work to do tidying this up!

Homelable Deployment Guide: Visualize Your Network Topology with Docker (2026)

Stop guessing your network map. Learn how to deploy Homelable using Docker Compose to visualize VLANs, device relationships, and topology in your homelab.

Digital rendering of my 10+ yr old hand me down Alienware X51 R3 PC running OPNsense, 'ghosting' my WAN IP to the scanners. — Ghosting the Scanners with my 10+yr old hand me down Alienware X51 R3.

Beyond Default Deny: Reducing Attack Surface & Exposure in 2026

Stop Shodan and Censys from mapping your network. Learn how to use OPNsense 26.1, CrowdSec, and Divert Mode to achieve true Security through Obscurity in 2026.

Cyberpunk digital lab, with a holograph device shooting the words "Latest from CORE LAB" above a table on the left side, on the right a powerful workstation PC sits. — Latest posts & updates from the lab!

Updates from the Lab

Maximizing Radarr and Sonarr after initial setup, media server networking updates, and the latest content overhauls from Core Lab.

Infographic comparing traditional media downloading vs Decypharr, highlighting instant cached playback, no downloads, and reduced storage requirements. — Traditional vs Decypharr: a side-by-side comparison showing slow downloads and storage-heavy workflows versus instant cached playback with minimal storage.

Decypharr Setup Guide: Replace Downloads with Instant Debrid Streaming (2026)

A complete Decypharr guide for existing Sonarr/Radarr users. Replace torrents with instant Debrid streaming using symlinks, rclone/DFS, and zero-download workflows.

Comic-style illustration of Synology, QNAP, and UGREEN NAS units side by side, highlighting storage vs computing differences. — Comic-style showdown: Synology vs QNAP vs UGREEN NAS - storage devices aren’t full servers.

NAS vs Server: What’s the Difference? (2026 Guide for Homelabs)

NAS vs server isn’t just semantics - it’s the difference between smooth performance and constant frustration. Learn when to use each and how to build the perfect homelab in 2026.

A high-tech digital interface performs a surgical, laser-guided scan on a grid of server data blocks, illustrating the cleanup of orphaned images in Ghost CMS.

How to Safely Delete Unused Images in Ghost CMS: The Surgical Guide

🖖These instructions & information are provided without warranty, guarantee of any kind, or support, and used completely at your own risk. Please use due diligence backing up your site before utilizing these steps‼️ I am not a developer, my python script was partially written with AI/LLM. Ghost CMS is famous for being fast, but if you’ve been self-hosting for a while, you’ve likely noticed a "shadow bloat" creeping into your backups. You delete a post, but the images stay. You upload a 5MB her

KDiskMark benchmark comparison on Linux showing Samsung 990 EVO Plus vs Sabrent Rocket 4.0 NVMe SSDs. — Side-by-side KDiskMark results on CachyOS: The Samsung 990 EVO Plus (Right) showing a significant lead in sequential read speeds over the Sabrent Rocket 4.0 (Left).

The Hybrid Gen 5 Experiment: High-Speed Linux Storage Without the Gen 5 Heat

Can a "Hybrid" SSD outperform the flagship Gen 5 screamers? I test the Samsung 990 EVO Plus on CachyOS to see how it handles BTRFS, thermals, and 2.5GbE NAS transfers in my newest workstation.

Diagram of an automated Sonarr and Radarr hunting stack using Prowlarr, Profilarr, and Decluttarr on a Docker network. — Digitized view of an automated Sonarr and Radarr hunting stack using Prowlarr, Profilarr, and Decluttarr on a Docker network.

Advanced Sonarr & Radarr Guide: Implementing the "Native Hunting" Protocol

Stop settling for "good enough" media quality. Learn how to use Profilarr and Decluttarr to build a secure, self-healing, "Always Hunting" Sonarr and Radarr stack without third-party scripts.

Header image showing a futuristic hacker lab with many glowing green & blue lights with the caption "Latest from CORE LAB". — Latest updates from Core Lab

Latest from Core Lab

The OPNsense Day 2 advanced configuration guide is now open to everyone, plus the new Suricata IDS/IPS guide and a homelab security roundup.

Cyberpunk illustration of OPNsense with Suricata, featuring a vigilant meerkat guarding glowing data streams and detecting threats in real time. — Cyberpunk-style OPNsense + Suricata guardian watching network traffic, symbolizing real-time intrusion detection and prevention.

OPNsense IDS/IPS in 26.4+: Suricata, Inline vs Divert Mode

Learn how to configure Suricata IDS/IPS in OPNsense 26.4+. Compare Inline vs Divert mode, optimize performance, and secure your self-hosted services.