A year ago, I would have said that a HomeLab is a collection of hardware and software for self-hosting web-based and local services and/or simulating enterprise network and client-server environments for learning/sharpening IT skills.

That was then, this is now. I’ve since retired and frankly, I prefer not to be involved in IT endeavors beyond the self-hosting services that I find useful and keeping my data secure and private. Besides, for many people (especially those just getting started in the hobby), a homelab may be nothing more than an old laptop. (Hardware requirements for this hobby aren’t very demanding.) That’s hardly a “collection of hardware”, right? Further, 50% of my current homelab “hardware” is a VPS (Virtal Private Server) that I’ve never seen or laid hands on, hosted on some rackmount server in some datacenter in Dallas.

Retirement allowed me and my wife, Krista, to expatriate to Panama (lower cost of living, greater availability of affordable housing that’s near the beach, better/cheaper healthcare and more). Lots of stuff (homelab equipment and otherwise) went into storage, to be shipped to us once we settle on a location and buy a house in Panama. So my homelab now consists of an Intel NUC (BoraBora) with an attached 8 x 12TB storage array that travels with me, along with the aforementioned VPS. That’s it. Again, not exactly a “collection of hardware”

Short answer: because there are some really great self-hosted services available. BoraBora runs Jellyfin, and serves (to me, locally, and to friends and family, remotely) an ever-growing library of 650+ movies and every episode of 35 different TV shows. Soon, I’ll be adding music, self-hosted YouTube videos, and personal photos and videos.