Published 18 minutes ago

Dhruv Bhutani has been writing about consumer technology since 2008, offering deep insights into the personal technology landscape through features and opinion pieces. He writes for XDA-Developers, where he focuses on topics like productivity, networking, self-hosting, and more. Over the years, his work has also appeared in leading publications such as Android Police, Android Authority, CNET, PCMag, and more. Outside of his professional work, Dhruv is an avid fan of horror media spanning films and literature, enjoys fitness activities, collects vinyl records, and plays the guitar.

Every homelab starts fairly similarly. You’ll probably experiment with a cheap Raspberry Pi or perhaps an old laptop that you have lying around. Eventually, you’ll invest in a NAS and load it up with more Docker containers than you know what to do with. When you reach the point where you are constantly juggling bookmarks for individual services, SSH sessions, and more, that’s usually when most people start looking out for dashboards. And sure, there is no dearth of fancy-looking dashboards that you can mount up as yet another Docker container. But I like the idea of reusing old hardware that might not be powerful enough for my current needs, like say running Frigate or Immich, but more than capable of serving up a persistent home page with links to all my other services.

That’s exactly where Deq fits in. This bare-metal running app is a lightweight dashboard built specifically for low-powered devices and simple servers. It doesn’t have an overwhelming array of features, but that’s fine. Instead, it focuses on the essentials that you’ll actually use. Things like controlling Docker containers, waking up a NAS or local server over your LAN, running scheduled tasks, and, of course, system health checks. And it might be shaping up as one of my favorite new dashboards to try out.

A minimal dashboard that covers the essentials

System stats, Docker controls, and built-in automation

The first thing that stands out about Deq is the exceptionally low system requirements it has. Deq isn’t your typical container stack that needs a database and multiple services to get started. Instead, it’s a straightforward Python-based service that can run on practically any hardware. In fact, Deq is designed specifically to run with ease on something as basic as a Raspberry Pi Pico, though you can run it on a mini PC or an always-on server too, if that’s what you have on hand.

Once up and running, Deq offers a much more minimalistic web interface than you might be used to with some of the other dashboard options around. The dashboard can be configured to show you details of your host machine, but can also ping other devices, like, say, a NAS on the network that might be your host for Docker containers. You can see which of your devices are online, and check basic system stats like CPU usage and memory. The built-in scanning function can even detect containers running on the device, but if that doesn’t work, you can configure them manually and jump straight to the container from the dashboard.

One of the most useful features is Deq’s Wake-on-LAN support. If you have machines that you don’t want running all day long, Deq will let you wake them up remotely with a single click. This is very useful for things like a dedicated backup server, a development machine, or even a media server with a full rack of hard drives. I’ve been testing out the ability to spin up my backup server using the app, as I don’t want it running 24/7.

Docker controls are another highlight. Instead of having to SSH into your machine to manage containers, or log into something like Portainer, Deq lets you start, stop and monitor Docker containers directly from your dashboard. This is very useful if you are running your Docker containers on a separate machine and goes a long way towards reducing friction. Deq connects over SSH and gives you a simple control surface.

Bridging all these features together is the built-in task scheduler that offers simple, but effective automation. You can set up tasks to wake up a machine, run a backup, restart a container, or shut down a machine on a schedule. So, you could start up a backup server using Wake on LAN on a schedule, if you so choose, all from a single interface.

Built for real-world homelab workflows

Low overhead, essential controls

Deq is far from the only dashboard app around. But what makes it particularly interesting is how it fits into real-world workflows. Many dashboards just focus on being a fancy way to launch websites, but that’s not much better than just using bookmarks. Others take up too many system resources or have too many dependencies.

Deq’s low system requirements make it a natural fit for low-power servers, and the focused feature set lets you take a quick peek at system health and access to services you actually use. You’re not digging through bookmarks or logging into interfaces to check on things; they are all present in one window.

Add to that features like power management through Wake on LAN, and automation support via the scheduled tasks feature, and you have an excellent tool not just for accessing containers and services, but also for basic control over your equipment. In fact, Deq even works as a web app on smartphones, which, when combined with a VPN like Tailscale, lets you get the same insights and controls remotely.

A simple dashboard that prioritizes function over flash

Deq isn’t trying to be the most feature-packed dashboard around, nor is it the best-looking one. But that’s fine since what it does, it does well. It’s a solid choice for a low-powered dashboard to keep tabs on a few containers and to have access to essential controls.

Deq

Deq is a lightweight dashboard that can run on a Raspberry Pi and supports features like Wake on Lan and built-in automation.