A homelab setup shows useful lessons for Mac mini servers
This homelab separates power protection, heavy computing, storage, and always-on services across different machines. An APC SmartUPS 1500 sits at the bottom and uses NUT monitoring through , so Proxmox nodes can shut down in an orderly way during power outages. The first Proxmox node uses an i5-12500, an RTX 3060 with 12GB of , 32GB of memory, and mirrored NVMe drives for heavier work.
It runs AI tools such as Ollama and OpenWebUI, media tools such as Immich and Frigate, and large such as macOS Tahoe and Windows 11. A TrueNAS machine with an i5-12400F, GT 710, 16GB of memory, and ten 2TB to 4TB drives handles Frigate video storage, Immich shares, Proxmox backups, and family photos and videos. One empty rack case is being saved for a future workstation because it was too short for the RTX 3060, and the plan is to use it for simple CAD work and occasional video editing from a desk connection.
A second Proxmox node, a small Lenovo PC with an i5-9500T, 32GB of memory, and a 1TB NVMe drive, acts as the main low-power brain for always-on services like , Cloudflared, Technitium DNS, Unifi OS, 3CX-SBC, and .
Key points
- A UPS plus NUT is used to shut down Proxmox machines safely during outages.
- Heavy AI work and large run on the Proxmox node with the RTX 3060.
- TrueNAS is used for video storage, photo shares, Proxmox backups, and family media.
- A small Lenovo Proxmox node runs lighter always-on services such as , DNS, network tools, and .
- owners can borrow the same idea: separate power, backup, storage, and heavy workloads where possible.