Aaron Warwick

Why Every Hypervisor Needs Three Votes for High Availability

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I posted about Proxmox requiring three nodes for High Availability and got a reply explaining the split-brain problem. It is worth writing up because this is one of the most misunderstood topics in virtualization, especially for anyone running two-server clusters and calling them “HA.”

The short version: every hypervisor requires three votes to do proper HA. The difference is how each platform provides that third vote.

The Split-Brain Problem

In a two-node cluster, if the network link between nodes drops, each node sees the other as failed. Both attempt to take ownership of the same VMs. Two hosts writing to the same virtual disks simultaneously causes filesystem corruption and data loss.

DNS: The Invisible Backbone of Your Network and Why Securing It Changes Everything - Non Technical

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Every time you open a browser, send an email, stream a video, or check the weather on your phone, something happens before nearly any of that traffic moves across the wire. A query fires off to a system so fundamental to the internet that most people never think about it. That system is the Domain Name System, and it remains one of the most critical pieces of infrastructure on any network.

How I Maintain a Multi-Site Proxmox Homelab Without Losing My Mind

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I run five Proxmox nodes spread across two physical sites connected by a WireGuard site-to-site VPN. One site is a cluster. Between the two sites, I manage around 50 virtual machines and containers, two Proxmox Backup Servers, two TrueNAS instances, GPU passthrough for local AI workloads, and Veeam Agent backups for Windows workstations.

It sounds like a lot. It is a lot. But after a recent multi-day deep dive into every node, every ZFS pool, every backup job, and every SMART report, I built a maintenance workflow that keeps things healthy in about 15-20 minutes per week.

Step-by-Step: Install and Configure Pi-hole with the Proxmox Community Script

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Step-by-Step: Install and Configure Pi-hole with the Proxmox Community Script

This guide covers a full technical setup for Pi-hole on Proxmox using the Community Scripts installer.

It includes:

creating the Pi-hole LXC
assigning a static IP
verifying DNS is working
configuring your router, ISP modem, or firewall DHCP server to hand out Pi-hole as DNS
fallback options when your ISP equipment does not allow custom DNS
post-install Pi-hole configuration
basic validation and troubleshooting

What this guide assumes

You have:

Part 2: Deploy Nginx Proxy Manager on Proxmox + Cloudflare

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Part 2: Set Up Nginx Proxy Manager on Proxmox with Cloudflare DNS & pfSense

In Part 2 of this series, we’re setting up Nginx Proxy Manager (NPM) inside Proxmox so we can start exposing our local services with clean HTTPS URLs and valid SSL certificates.

This is where the home lab starts feeling real.

Instead of accessing Home Assistant with something like:

http://192.168.1.20:8123

…we’ll be able to use:

https://ha.domain.com

And because we’re using Cloudflare DNS validation, we can issue a wildcard certificate for our domain and keep everything secure and polished.

Why Proxmox Is One of the Best Hypervisors You Can Run in a Home Lab

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Why Proxmox Is One of the Best Hypervisors You Can Run in a Home Lab

There’s something incredibly satisfying about owning your infrastructure.

Not renting it.
Not trusting it to some mysterious black box.
Actually owning it.

That’s the spirit behind home labs, and it’s exactly why Proxmox VE has become one of the most powerful hypervisors available to builders, tinkerers, and serious self-hosters.

It’s fast.
It’s powerful.
It’s ridiculously flexible.

Installing pfSense CE on Bare Metal

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

From Zero to Segmented: Installing pfSense CE the Right Way (With VLANs That Actually Teach You Networking)

Most home networks are flat.

One LAN. One WiFi. Everything trusts everything.

Your laptop can talk to your smart bulbs. Your TV can talk to your NAS. Your IoT camera can reach your workstation.

That’s not a lab. That’s a liability.

If you want a home lab that actually teaches real networking, segmentation, routing, firewall policy, and security boundaries, you need a real firewall.

Deploying a Local Hugo Site to Azure Static Web Apps

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 14:00:00 -0600

Deploy Hugo to Azure for Free!!!

Overview

This guide walks through moving a locally developed Hugo site to Azure Static Web Apps (SWA) using GitHub Actions.

The goal is a workflow where:

You develop and preview locally
GitHub Actions builds the site
Azure Static Web Apps deploys it globally
No servers are managed manually

This assumes:

You already have a working Hugo site locally
You are using GitHub
You want reproducible, CI-based deployments

Prerequisites

A local Hugo site (hugo server works)
Hugo extended edition (recommended)
A GitHub repository
An Azure subscription
Git installed locally

1. Verify Local Hugo Build

From your site root:

Creating a post

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 13:00:00 -0600

Posting to Hugo is easy

So now the site exists. The theme is wired up. The local server is humming along on localhost:1313.

And then you hit the real question:

How do you actually post something?

This is where Hugo stops being “a static site generator” and starts being a habit. Writing posts is the entire point, so let’s document that workflow while it’s still fresh in my head.

No cloud, no deployment pipelines, no polish. Just creating content and seeing it live on a locally hosted Hugo site.