Big tech, small lab.
Homelab builds, DevOps deep dives, and automation playbooks.
All open source.
6 repos. 3 tools. 2 complexity levels.
The same Kubernetes cluster, built differently every time.
Start with the big picture.
Three pillar posts that map the entire project — from choosing a tool, to the learning path, to the security architecture.
Kubernetes on Apple Silicon: UTM vs Vagrant vs OrbStack
Side-by-side benchmarks, gotchas, and the verdict on which tool fits which use case.
From Simple to HA: A Learning Path for Kubernetes on Apple Silicon
Start with 6 VMs, graduate to 11. The structured progression with working code at every level.
Production-Grade Kubernetes Security on a Homelab Budget
Vault PKI, mTLS everywhere, CA separation, bastion access — the full security architecture across all 6 repos.
Go deep on the internals.
Technical deep dives into the components that make production Kubernetes work.
Vault PKI for Kubernetes: 3-Tier CA the Right Way
Separate CAs for K8s, etcd, and front-proxy. 5 Vault engines, 3 Ansible roles, automated end to end.
Why Kubernetes Needs Three Separate CAs
What each CA signs, what breaks if they’re combined, and how Vault enforces the boundaries.
mTLS Between etcd Nodes Explained
Peer certificates, systemd flags, the handshake step by step, and what breaks when you get it wrong.
Understanding etcd Quorum — Why 3 Nodes, Never 2 or 4
Raft consensus, quorum math, and 6 hands-on experiments to run on your homelab cluster.
The Bastion Server Pattern — Why You Shouldn’t SSH Directly to Cluster Nodes
SSH flow, defense in depth, and how this maps to AWS, GCP, and Azure in production.
Why Your Homelab K8s Cluster Isn’t Production-Ready
Single master, self-signed certs, no bastion. Let’s fix all of it.
The full deployment walkthroughs.
Every step of building the clusters — from VM creation to kubectl get nodes.
UTM
UTM Simple: What You’re Building and Why
Your First Kubernetes Cluster the Hard Way with UTM
UTM HA Cluster: What You’re Building and Why
Building an 11-VM HA Cluster on UTM — The Full 17-Step Deployment
What broke (so you don’t have to find out yourself).
Tool-specific and cross-tool lessons learned the hard way.
UTM Gotchas
What breaks when building K8s clusters on Apple Silicon.
Vagrant Gotchas
QEMU, socket_vmnet, and dual-NIC surprises.
OrbStack Gotchas
Shared-kernel surprises when running K8s.
HA-Specific Gotchas
Cross-tool problems that hit every HA deployment.
New to the lab?
Start with a simple cluster to learn the fundamentals, then graduate to HA with Vault PKI, etcd clustering, HAProxy load balancing, and bastion architecture. All free, all on your Mac.