A 10Gbps homelab can stay simple with physical links
This 10Gbps homelab is built around separate physical network links instead of VLANs, so speed stays high and troubleshooting stays simpler. The internet connection is a 10Gbps Init7 fiber line, handled by a dedicated OPNsense gateway and firewall machine with an i7-7700K and 32GB of memory. Suricata and CrowdSec run on that firewall to help detect and block suspicious traffic.
The network uses one SFP+ card for the fiber side and 10GbE RJ45 cards for the home network side. The main workstation and the Unraid server each get their own dedicated 10Gbps connection. Wi-Fi devices sit behind a 2.5Gbps switch layer with three Cudy M3000 mesh , though that layer is capped at 1Gbps.
is separated into WireGuard and VPN networks, while and local Unbound handle blocking and DNS lookup. The main server, named “Winky,” runs Unraid OS with an i7-9800X, 64GB of memory, an Intel Arc A310 GPU for Jellyfin video , and 54TB of usable storage.
Key points
- The setup avoids VLANs and uses separate physical links to make the network easier to understand.
- A dedicated OPNsense machine acts as the gateway and firewall, with Suricata and CrowdSec for security.
- The main workstation and Unraid server each have a dedicated 10Gbps connection.
- WireGuard and are used as separate VPN paths for .
- The Unraid server has 54TB of usable storage and an Intel Arc A310 GPU for Jellyfin .