Looking for Advice on Optimizing & Cleaning Up a Growing Home Network / Homelab Iβm looking for suggestions, critiques, or architectural advice on how to better organize, optimize, and fully utilize the equipment I already own. Over time Iβve accumulated a bit of a hodgepodge, and while everything works, itβs messy, overlapping in places, and not as well-structured as it could be. My primary goals are: Fully utilize existing hardware (especially servers and GPUs) Build an easy-to-use, multi-user photo & video storage/management system (wife-approved UX) Centralize *Plex + arr suite Add automatic backups on top of primary storage Create a cleaner, better-managed cluster, focusing improvements on core infrastructure rather than edge devices Improve organization, reliability, and future expandability (rack, UPS, wiring) Convenience matters β some choices (like mesh vs wired APs) are intentional. Current Network Overview ISP / Routing Modem: Netgear Nighthawk CM3000 (DOCSIS 3.1) Router: TP-Link Archer BE800 (Wi-Fi 7) This is the only router in the network Handles routing, NAT, DHCP, and main Wi-Fi Wireless Access Point: TP-Link Archer BE550 Used strictly as a wired backhaul AP, not routing Located near gaming/editing PCs Mesh Extenders (used intentionally instead of wired APs for convenience): Netgear EAX12 (Wi-Fi 6) Netgear Nighthawk EX7500 (Tri-band) All extenders operate as mesh/repeaters, not routers IoT devices (Google Nest cameras, speakers, smart lights) are on a separate IoT SSID No VLANs yet, open to changing this Switching 2Γ 8-port 2.5Gb unmanaged switches 1Γ 8-port 1Gb unmanaged switch Compute, Storage & Services Network Services Raspberry Pi 4 Pi-hole (DNS) WireGuard (remote access) NAS Devices TNAS1 β Terramaster F2-223 Celeron 4505 32GB DDR4 Storage: 2Γ12TB HDD 2Γ1TB NVMe Dual 2.5Gb Ethernet Current role: Photo, video, document storage Backup target Proxmox ISO storage Planned future role: Likely video storage target for PoE cameras TNAS2 β Terramaster F4-423 Celeron N5105 32GB DDR4 Storage: 4Γ12TB HDD 2Γ1TB NVMe Dual 2.5Gb Ethernet Current role: Main backup target for personal storage Proxmox Host (Current) i9-10900 64GB DDR4 Storage: 8Γ12TB HDD 2Γ2TB NVMe GPU: RTX 3060 Ti Current VMs: TrueNAS VM ~Β½ of HDDs passed through 6 QEMU cores, 20GB RAM Backs up other systems Feels sluggish for read/write Windows VM One disk passed through Acts as a Steam/app update cache machine 4β6 cores, 16GB RAM Linux VM Planned Pi-hole redundancy Linux VM Plex server using remaining HDD space End-User Systems Main workstation area (wife + me): Gaming + CAD (SolidWorks, SketchUp) Content creation (DaVinci Resolve, Lightroom, Blender) Living room PC (near network core): i9-10900K 64GB RAM RTX 3090 Planned future role: Local LLM / AI inference box Laptop near 3D printers Blender, Cura, slicing K2 Max + Ender 3 V2 (Klipper via Sonic Pad) Ender located in garage New Hardware to Integrate Lenovo ThinkStation P920 Dual Intel Xeon Platinum 8160 256GB RAM 1TB NVMe Quadro P4000 Planned Changes / Ideas Physical & Power Add a rack (something similar to a StarTech / Amazon 12β15U) Clean up cabling (everything currently lives behind a TV wall) Add UPS units for networking + servers Storage & Media Convert current Proxmox box to TrueNAS on bare metal Current VM setup feels slow Consolidate Plex directly on NAS Use GPU meaningfully (transcoding, compute, etc.) Centralize: Plex *arr suite Family media sharing Photos & Videos (Major Goal) Move away from Google Photos Current TNAS phone backups work but are not user-friendly Want: Shared + separate libraries (me, wife, future kids, parents) Automatic phone uploads Browsing, albums, search, timeline Wife-approved UX Cameras Eventually replace Google Nest cameras with PoE cameras Local recording instead of cloud subscriptions Likely store footage on TNAS1 Networking & Security Considering OPNsense / pfSense Open to: VLAN segmentation (LAN / IoT / Servers / Cameras) Moving routing/firewall duties off BE800 if justified What Iβm Looking for Advice On How would you reorganize or reassign roles across this hardware to better utilize it? Best architecture for photo/video management that rivals Google Photos UX TrueNAS bare metal vs Proxmox strategy Best use for the P920 + P4000 Other useful services I could reasonably add with this compute Whether introducing OPNsense/pfSense is worth it in this setup Any obvious inefficiencies, overlap, or βwhy are you doing that?β moments Iβm very open to re-architecting core infrastructure, less so edge convenience decisions (mesh vs wired APs unless thereβs a compelling reason). Thanks in advance β Iβm looking to turn this from βit worksβ into something well-designed and future-proof.
βββββββββββββββββ β ISP β βββββββββ¬ββββββββ β βββββββββΌββββββββ β Cable Modem β β Netgear CM3000β βββββββββ¬ββββββββ 10Gb β βββββββββΌββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ β TP-Link Archer BE800 β β ROUTER β β - NAT / DHCP / Main Wi-Fi β β - IoT SSID β βββββββββ¬βββββββββββ¬ββββββββββ¬ββββββββββ 10Gb β2.5Gb β2.5Gb β2.5Gb β β β β βββββββββββββββββββββββββ β β β β β β β βββββββββΌβββββββββ βββββββββΌββββ ββββΌβββββββββ ββββββββββββΌββββββββββ β TP-Link BE550 β β Raspberry β β 2.5Gb β β Proxmox Host β β ACCESS POINT β β Pi 4 β β Switch β β i9-10900 / 3060 Ti β β (10Gb uplink) β β Pi-hole + β β (Unmanagedβ β (2.5Gb NIC) β β β β WireGuardβ β ) β ββββββββββββββββββββββ β β ββββββββββββ βββββββ¬βββββββ β β β β β β2.5Gb β β β β ββββββββββββββΌβββββββββββββ ββββββββββββββΌβββββββββββββ β β Main Wi-Fi / Mesh Node β β Wired Devices on 2.5G β β β (Rear of House) β β β β β β β ββββββββββββββββββββ β β β - Wifeβs PC (Wi-Fi) β β β TNAS1 F2-223 ββββ€ β β - Your PC (Wi-Fi) β β β (2Γ2.5Gb LACP) β β β β - Phones / Tablets β β ββββββββββββββββββββ β β β - Smart TVs (rear) β β ββββββββββββββββββββ β β β β β β TNAS2 F4-423 ββββ€ β β Acts as Mesh Backhaul β β β (2Γ2.5Gb LACP) β β β β for rest of house β β ββββββββββββββββββββ β β ββββββββββββββ¬ββββββββββββββ β - Nearby PC β β β β - Smart TV β β β βββββββββββββββββββββββββββ β β β βββββββββΌβββββββββββ β β Mesh Extender #1 β β β (Garage) β β β Netgear EAX12 β β β β β β IoT Mesh Focus: β β β - Garage Cameras β β β - Smart Lights β β β - Ender 3 V2 β β β (Klipper) β β ββββββββββββββββββββ β β ββββββββββββββββββββ β β Mesh Extender #2 β β β (Living Room / β β β Office) β β β Netgear EX7500 β β β β β β Meshes main Wi-Fiβ β β + IoT bands β β β β β β Ethernet Out β β βββββββββ¬βββββββββββ β β1Gb β βββββββββΌβββββββββββ β β 1Gb Switch β β β (Unmanaged) β β βββββββββ¬βββββββββββ β β β βββββββββΌβββββββββββ β β Laptop β β β (Blender / Cura) β β ββββββββββββββββββββ€ β β K2 Max 3D Printerβ β ββββββββββββββββββββ
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