Building a Security-Focused Homelab: My Journey

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Why Every Security Professional Needs a Homelab

As a security engineer and a dad, I wear two hats: protecting enterprise systems by day and keeping my family's digital life secure by night. Building a homelab has been one of the most rewarding projects I've undertaken, serving as both a learning playground and a practical security solution for my home.

The Journey Begins

It started simply enough – I wanted to understand how enterprise security tools actually worked without the constraints of production environments. But as any homelab enthusiast will tell you, it quickly evolved into something much more.

My initial goals were:

Learn security tools hands-on without breaking anything important
Protect my family's devices from increasing cyber threats
Have a safe environment to test new technologies
Build something my kids might find cool (success metric: "Dad, that's actually not boring!")

The Architecture

Network Segmentation is Key

The foundation of my homelab is proper network segmentation. I run five VLANs:

VLAN 10: Management Network (Infrastructure only)
VLAN 20: Trusted Devices (Family computers, phones)
VLAN 30: IoT Devices (Smart home gadgets)
VLAN 40: Guest Network (Visitors)
VLAN 50: Security Lab (Where the magic/chaos happens)

Each VLAN has specific firewall rules. The IoT network, for example, can't initiate connections to other VLANs – because why does my smart toaster need to talk to my NAS?

The Hardware Stack

I believe in starting small and growing organically. My current setup:

Firewall: pfSense on a Protectli Vault (4-port appliance)
Virtualization: Proxmox cluster (3 nodes with old enterprise gear from eBay)
Storage: TrueNAS with ZFS for that sweet, sweet data integrity
Monitoring: Raspberry Pi cluster running various sensors

Pro tip: Enterprise gear on eBay is incredibly affordable. My entire virtualization cluster cost less than a decent gaming PC.

Security Stack Implementation

SIEM and Log Analysis

I run Wazuh as my SIEM, ingesting logs from:

All network devices
Family computers (with their permission, of course)
Smart home devices (the chattier, the better)
Web applications I'm testing

The dashboard is mounted on an old tablet in my office. My family now knows that when Dad stares at the "colorful graphs," someone's probably trying to hack our WiFi.

Intrusion Detection

Suricata IDS on pfSense monitors all traffic between VLANs. I've tuned it to alert on:

Known malware signatures
Suspicious DNS queries
Unusual data exfiltration patterns
That one IoT device that keeps trying to phone home to sketchy servers

Vulnerability Management

Weekly automated scans using OpenVAS keep me informed about:

Unpatched systems (looking at you, smart TV)
Weak configurations
Services that shouldn't be exposed

Real-World Wins

This isn't just academic – my homelab has caught real threats:

The Compromised IoT Device: My security camera tried establishing a connection to a known C2 server. Caught, isolated, and firmware updated.
The Malicious Ad: Kids clicked on a sketchy Minecraft mod site. DNS sinkhole blocked the malware download, and I got an alert within seconds.
The Neighbor's Crypto Miner: Guest network user (neighbor's kid) had a crypto miner on their laptop. Detected by unusual CPU patterns and blocked.

Lessons Learned

Start Small

Don't try to build everything at once. I started with just pfSense and one old server. The complexity grew with my knowledge.

Document Everything

Future you will thank present you. I maintain a private wiki with:

Network diagrams
Configuration notes
Troubleshooting steps
"Why did I do this?" explanations

Make It Family-Friendly

Security shouldn't make life harder for your family. I've implemented:

Self-service password reset portal
Guest network QR codes
"Dad's Lab Status" dashboard (green = good, red = Dad's fixing something)

Automate Ruthlessly

If you're doing it twice, script it. My automation includes:

Daily backup verification
Security patch notifications
Threat intelligence feed updates
Coffee maker activation (critical infrastructure)

Current Projects

The lab is never "done." Current experiments include:

Deception Technology: Honeypots throughout the network to catch lateral movement
AI-Powered Anomaly Detection: Training models on my network's "normal" behavior
Zero Trust Implementation: Because assuming my smart lightbulbs are trustworthy seems naive
Incident Response Automation: Building playbooks for common scenarios

The Unexpected Benefits

Beyond the technical learning, this project has:

Given me stories that make sense to non-technical family ("Remember when I caught that virus before it infected your laptop?")
Provided hands-on experience with enterprise tools
Created a safe space for spectacular failures (yes, I've locked myself out multiple times)
Sparked my kids' interest in technology and security

Resources for Getting Started

If you're thinking about building your own security homelab:

Start with networking: Understanding VLANs and firewall rules is foundational
Learn one tool deeply: Better to master pfSense than to half-learn five firewalls
Join the community: r/homelab and r/homenetworking are goldmines
Budget wisely: Used enterprise gear > new consumer gear
Have fun: If it feels like work, you're doing it wrong

Final Thoughts

Building a security-focused homelab has made me a better security professional and a better protector of my family's digital life. It's where theory meets practice, where failures are learning opportunities, and where that old server in your closet becomes a powerful learning platform.

Plus, there's something deeply satisfying about catching malware while sitting on your couch, knowing your defenses worked exactly as designed.

What's in your homelab? I'd love to hear about your setup and exchange ideas!

Next up: "Raspberry Pi Security Projects That Actually Solve Problems" – where I'll share practical Pi projects that enhance home security.