homelab-optimized/docs/getting-started/03-Architecture-Overview.md

Architecture Overview

Infrastructure Design

This homelab implements a distributed, containerized architecture designed for high availability, scalability, and ease of management. The infrastructure follows GitOps principles with infrastructure-as-code practices.

Network Architecture

Physical Network

Internet
    │
    ├── Router/Firewall (pfSense)
    │   ├── Management VLAN (192.168.1.0/24)
    │   ├── Server VLAN (192.168.10.0/24)
    │   ├── IoT VLAN (192.168.20.0/24)
    │   └── Guest VLAN (192.168.30.0/24)
    │
    └── Core Switch
        ├── Atlantis (192.168.10.10)
        ├── Calypso (192.168.10.20)
        ├── Concord NUC (192.168.10.30)
        ├── Homelab VM (192.168.10.40)
        └── Raspberry Pi (192.168.10.50)

Virtual Networks

• Docker Networks: Isolated container communication
• VPN Tunnels: Secure remote access via WireGuard
• Tailscale Mesh: Zero-trust network overlay
• Cloudflare Tunnels: Secure external access

Server Architecture

Atlantis (Primary Server)

Role: Main application server and storage

• Hardware: Dell PowerEdge R720
• OS: Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS
• Storage: 12TB RAID-10 array
• Services: 40+ containerized applications

Key Services:

• Media Management (Plex, Sonarr, Radarr)
• File Storage (Nextcloud, Syncthing)
• Development Tools (GitLab, Portainer)
• Monitoring (Grafana, Prometheus)

Calypso (Secondary Server)

Role: Backup services and specialized workloads

• Hardware: Custom build (AMD Ryzen)
• OS: Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS
• Storage: 8TB RAID-1 array
• Services: 25+ containerized applications

Key Services:

• Authentication (Authentik)
• Game Servers (Minecraft, Satisfactory)
• Development (Gitea, CI/CD runners)
• Backup Services (Seafile, Immich)

Concord NUC (Edge Computing)

Role: Edge services and IoT management

• Hardware: Intel NUC
• OS: Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS
• Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD
• Services: 15+ lightweight applications

Key Services:

• Home Automation (Home Assistant)
• Network Services (AdGuard, Pi-hole)
• Media Streaming (Invidious, Piped)
• Monitoring (Node Exporter)

Homelab VM (Development)

Role: Development and testing environment

• Platform: Proxmox VM
• OS: Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS
• Storage: 500GB virtual disk
• Services: 30+ development tools

Key Services:

• AI/ML Tools (Ollama, OpenHands)
• Communication (Mattermost, Signal API)
• Testing Services (Various experimental apps)
• Monitoring (Alerting, NTFY)

Raspberry Pi (Monitoring)

Role: Dedicated monitoring and lightweight services

• Hardware: Raspberry Pi 5
• OS: Raspberry Pi OS Lite
• Storage: 256GB microSD + USB storage
• Services: 5+ monitoring applications

Key Services:

• Uptime Monitoring (Uptime Kuma)
• System Monitoring (Glances)
• Photo Management (Immich)
• File Sharing (Samba)

Container Architecture

Orchestration Strategy

• Docker Compose: Primary orchestration tool
• Portainer: Web-based container management
• Watchtower: Automated container updates
• GitOps: Version-controlled deployments

Container Patterns

┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│   Application   │    │     Database    │    │     Storage     │
│   Containers    │    │   Containers    │    │   Containers    │
├─────────────────┤    ├─────────────────┤    ├─────────────────┤
│ • Web Services  │    │ • PostgreSQL    │    │ • File Shares   │
│ • APIs          │    │ • MySQL         │    │ • Object Store  │
│ • Workers       │    │ • Redis         │    │ • Backup Vols   │
└─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘
         │                       │                       │
         └───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┘
                                 │
                    ┌─────────────────┐
                    │   Proxy/LB      │
                    │   Containers    │
                    ├─────────────────┤
                    │ • Nginx Proxy   │
                    │ • Traefik       │
                    │ • Cloudflare    │
                    └─────────────────┘

Storage Architecture

Primary Storage (Atlantis)

• RAID-10: 4x 4TB drives for performance and redundancy
• Hot Spare: Additional drive for automatic replacement
• Backup Target: Weekly snapshots to external storage

Secondary Storage (Calypso)

• RAID-1: 2x 4TB drives for redundancy
• Backup Source: Receives backups from other servers
• Archive Storage: Long-term data retention

Distributed Storage

• Syncthing: Peer-to-peer file synchronization
• Seafile: Centralized file storage with versioning
• Immich: Photo management with AI features
• Nextcloud: Personal cloud storage

Monitoring Architecture

Metrics Collection

┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐
│ Node        │    │ Container   │    │ Application │
│ Exporter    │───▶│ Advisor     │───▶│ Metrics     │
└─────────────┘    └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘
       │                   │                   │
       └───────────────────┼───────────────────┘
                           │
                  ┌─────────────┐
                  │ Prometheus  │
                  │ (Metrics)   │
                  └─────────────┘
                           │
                  ┌─────────────┐
                  │  Grafana    │
                  │ (Dashboards)│
                  └─────────────┘

Alerting Pipeline

Prometheus ──▶ Alertmanager ──▶ NTFY ──▶ Mobile/Desktop
     │              │              │
     │              ├──▶ Email ────┘
     │              └──▶ Signal ───┘
     │
     └──▶ Uptime Kuma ──▶ Discord/Slack

Security Architecture

Network Security

• Firewall Rules: Strict ingress/egress controls
• VPN Access: WireGuard for remote connectivity
• Zero Trust: Tailscale mesh networking
• SSL/TLS: End-to-end encryption

Application Security

• Authentication: Centralized with Authentik
• Authorization: Role-based access control
• Secrets Management: Docker secrets and environment files
• Container Security: Non-root users, read-only filesystems

Data Security

• Encryption at Rest: LUKS disk encryption
• Encryption in Transit: TLS for all communications
• Backup Encryption: GPG-encrypted backups
• Access Logging: Comprehensive audit trails

Deployment Architecture

GitOps Workflow

Developer ──▶ Git Repository ──▶ CI/CD Pipeline ──▶ Container Registry
                     │                                      │
                     │                                      │
                     ▼                                      ▼
              Configuration ──▶ Portainer ──▶ Docker Compose ──▶ Containers
                  Files              │                              │
                     │               │                              │
                     └───────────────┼──────────────────────────────┘
                                     │
                                Monitoring & Alerting

Continuous Deployment

• Git-based: All configurations in version control
• Automated Testing: Compose file validation
• Rolling Updates: Zero-downtime deployments
• Rollback Capability: Quick reversion to previous versions

High Availability Design

Service Redundancy

• Load Balancing: Nginx Proxy Manager
• Health Checks: Automated service monitoring
• Failover: Automatic service migration
• Backup Services: Secondary instances on different hosts

Data Redundancy

• RAID Arrays: Hardware-level redundancy
• Cross-server Backups: Geographic distribution
• Snapshot Schedules: Point-in-time recovery
• Offsite Backups: Cloud storage integration

Scalability Considerations

Horizontal Scaling

• Container Orchestration: Easy service replication
• Load Distribution: Multiple server deployment
• Database Clustering: PostgreSQL/MySQL clusters
• Storage Expansion: Additional storage nodes

Vertical Scaling

• Resource Allocation: Dynamic CPU/memory assignment
• Storage Expansion: RAID array growth
• Network Upgrades: 10GbE infrastructure
• Hardware Refresh: Regular equipment updates

Technology Stack

Core Technologies

• Operating System: Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS
• Containerization: Docker & Docker Compose
• Orchestration: Portainer Community Edition
• Reverse Proxy: Nginx Proxy Manager
• Monitoring: Prometheus + Grafana stack

Supporting Technologies

• Version Control: Git with Gitea
• CI/CD: Gitea Actions, Ansible
• Backup: Restic, rsync, custom scripts
• Networking: WireGuard, Tailscale, Cloudflare
• Authentication: Authentik, LDAP integration

Performance Characteristics

Expected Performance

• Web Response: < 200ms for local services
• File Transfer: 1Gbps+ within network
• Database Queries: < 50ms for typical operations
• Container Startup: < 30 seconds for most services

Resource Utilization

• CPU: 20-40% average across servers
• Memory: 60-80% utilization with caching
• Storage: 70% capacity with growth planning
• Network: < 10% of available bandwidth

Future Roadmap

Short-term Improvements

• Kubernetes Migration: Container orchestration upgrade
• Service Mesh: Istio or Linkerd implementation
• Observability: Enhanced tracing and logging
• Automation: Expanded Ansible playbooks

Long-term Vision

• Edge Computing: Additional edge nodes
• AI/ML Integration: GPU acceleration
• Hybrid Cloud: Public cloud integration
• IoT Expansion: Smart home integration

Related Documentation

• Prerequisites - Required knowledge and tools
• Quick Start Guide - Deploy your first service
• Infrastructure Documentation
• Monitoring Setup

---

This architecture overview provides a comprehensive understanding of the homelab infrastructure design and implementation strategy.