Josh Leeth / Random Ramblings

Of all the IT roles I have held over the years, Network Engineer is my favorite. If you don’t know much about networking it can be dead simple. If you know what it’s capable of it can be incredibly complicated. Of course my home network is no exception. It’s completely over complicated with way too much hardware and it’s completely overkill for what I need, but I love it. Here is a quick diagram I put together that outlines most of what I have.

I have limited broadband options so I am stuck with a 450Mbps cable connection from Time Warner. Yes, I do have the option of upgrading to a gigabit connection but 99% of the time the 450Mbps connection will do what I need and it’s cheaper. If I ever fully utilize my current connection I’ll upgrade but no real need for now. It terminates in an Arris SURFboard DOCSIS 3.1 modem which is more than capable of handling any future upgrqdes.

For my firewall I use a Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro which I use to control my access points and Ubiquiti switches. It’s an incredibly power piece of hardware with a lot of reporting/monitoring capabilities which can be really useful. It acts as the gateway for the 4 VLANS on my network and provides captive portal services for my guest WiFi network. I also like that it can provide VPN services providing easy remote access to my network when I travel. It’s really an all in one solution that meets all my needs.

The core of my network is a Cisco Systems 3750X-24P-S layer 3 gigabit switch. It provides POE to my WAPs and IP security cameras and even has options to upgrade to 10G if I ever upgrade my ISP connection. Yes it’s old but it does everything I need it to do for now. I eventually want to upgrade to something that supports newer POE standards but that’s not something I need yet.

As far as servers go, my main need is redundant storage which I address with redundant TrueNAS servers which I replicate between using rSYNC. Together they provide around 96Tb of raw storage of which I am currently only using a fraction. I also have 2 Pi-Hole server that provide network wide add blocking as well as a Home Assistant server for some home automation workloads. I have a wiki that I use for basic documentation as well as an inventory collections around the house. The last 3 all run on Raspberry Pi servers while TrueNAS runs on HP Micro Servers.

This may seem overly complicated and unnecessary and I would have to agree. But I love it. I enjoy how it continuously evolves to make my life easier. Yeah, I do have to spend a little extra time to keep things secure and updated but it helps me keep my skills fresh and it can be oddly relaxing. This is just an introduction, I’ll take some time later to expand on some of the specific parts of my network. This is just the beginning.