Grafana is an awesome tool to visualize your smart home data. It gets even better if you create a dynamic dashboard though. Change the datasource for a set of diagrams with one click – easy, show all values of a certain type in one diagram? – possible! All of this Read more…
To host services on your own server you need a simple way of running them. A great combination here is Docker and docker-compose for running your services. After some initial setup this combination is very simple to use, easy to extend and really powerful. This is how I run my Read more…
Having backups of your servers data is essential. But what if somethings goes wrong with the backup process? An automated backup check can be an incredibly important tool. I wrote a small script to check for new backups on my ZFS based server and notify me if any are missing. Read more…
Building a home server includes taking care of user management and (network) file shares. This can be a tedious task and chmod and samba shares’ configurations can be tricky to create. I created an Ansible script, including everything I learned about this, to fully automate these tasks. Here is how Read more…
ZFS is a super robust file system made for servers with great features like snapshots and build in checks for data security and integrity – with no special hardware needed. In this guide I will describe how to use it for a home server with integrated RAID functionality, snapshots of Read more…
Self-hosting important software and data on your own home server has a lot of advantages but can be a daunting task to get started with. I have been running my own server for a couple of years now and will describe the choices in hardware and software here. This will Read more…
I recently connected my smart Xiaomi fan to my Home Assistant installation but found the default card in the user interface lacking in design and functionality. So I used this as an excuse to finally create my first own card. Here is how it works and how you can use Read more…
To make your smart home network more reliable and secure you can build a network based on prosumer components like the Ubiquiti Unifi line. Everything in your smart home relies on a robust network, so I decided to built a new & better network including several Wifi networks, VLANs, a Read more…
Home Assistant dashboard are great, but Grafana is even more powerful. So why not combine them and embed your Grafana graphs directly into your Home Assistant dashboard? It is actually pretty simple. If you are looking for an even better shortcut in your smart home journey check out my new Read more…
Network wide DNS ad blocker like Adguard Home and PiHoleAds can be a great solution to a big problem. Ads can be really annoying and even a huge security risk, but many modern devices like smart TVs are out of your direct control. Network wide ad blocker can get around Read more…