My Setup
An ever updated list of the hardware and software that I make use of in my homelab and daily use.
Inspired by Paul Stamatiou‘s post about the stuff he uses daily, I thought I would do the same. Not only to let people get an idea of what I use daily but also so I can keep track of the hardware/software that I have installed.
Server
- Intel Core i7-8700K – I wanted to make sure I had enough power no matter what I threw at the server. Everything is running in its own Docker container, and I have plenty of resources left.
- Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB – Same as above, I wanted to make sure I didn’t run into issues with running out of memory.
- Samsung 970 EVO Plus Series – 500GB PCIe NVMe – Initially, I had a 500GB SSD, but I was still seeing some random buffering issues with Plex. Since installing the M.2 drive the only bottleneck I run into is the network bandwidth.
- Rosewill 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet Card – While the motherboard had a gigabit NIC already, I wanted to separate the NAS traffic from the rest of the traffic. The Synology and server are on a private VLAN directly on this NIC.
- ASUS Prime Z370-A II
- NVIDIA Quadro P2000 – This was added after the initial build as I wanted to offload some of the heavy lifting to a CPU. I can now transcode up to 23 streams without hitting the CPU.
- 2x Tripp Lite 1500VA Smart UPS – Provides plenty of power to the server and the rest of the networking equipment in case of a power outage.
Desktop

- MacBook Air M1 (2020 Model) – With the MacBook Pro keyboard issue and frequent lockups, I had to jump the gun and get a new MacBook as I couldn’t handle it anymore. I ended up with a Space Gray M1 with 16GB of ram and the 1TB drive model.
- Twelve South BookArc – An expensive piece of metal to hold my MacBook.
- LG 34WN80C-B 34 inches 21:9 Curved UltraWide WQHD IPS Monitor – Upgraded to this out of envy of a couple of friends that purchased some new Ultrawide displays.
- Apple Wireless Keyboard with TouchID and Number Pad – I wish it didn’t have the number pad, but it was the only way to get the space gray model.
- Yikda Dual-Sided Mouse Pad Desk Mat
- iPad mini (6th generation) – With the release of the new iPad mini, not only with the new form factor but better screen, touch ID, as well as Pencil 2 support, this was the iPad mini I have always wanted Apple to make.
- Anker USB C to Ethernet Adapter – For the times that I need to connect via Ethernet. (Driver Download)
- Apple Magic Mouse 2 – I have had the original Magic Mouse for years, but once again wanted the space gray, so I HAD to upgrade.
- UpLift v2 standing desk – I opted to make my desktop as theirs seemed overpriced.
- UpLift Locking Under Desk Drawer with Shelf
- TaoTronics LED Desk Lamp with Qi-Enabled Wireless Fast Charger – I ditched the previous lamp and charger and got an all-in-one to free up some space on the desk and one less cable now.
- Apple AirPods Pro – I recently upgraded to the newest model for wireless charging and noise cancelation, which did take some getting used to. The fit is 100x better than the 1st gen Air Pods
- Apple AirPods Max – While I have never been an over-the-ear headphone user, I decided to try these, and they are more or less my daily headphones now.
Network

- Synology 8 bay NAS DiskStation DS1817+ – Over the years, I have gone from a Drobo, homebuilt server, QNAP, and finally, the Synology. This has been an excellent NAS; I wish I had gone this route. The only issue is that I wish it were a Rackmount version though that would have increased the price by another 1-2k which is not worth it.
- 8x WD 12TB Hard Drives – Total available storage is currently 72TB.
- NavePoint 18U rack – The most recent upgrade, so much nicer than having everything on a baker’s rack.
- Ultimate Dream Machine Pro (UDM-Pro) – To keep my network as fast as possible and with the newest hardware, I upgraded to the UDM-Pro and am glad I did. It has helped me to max out my download and upload speeds.
- UniFi Switch – 24 Ports Managed (US-24-250W) – This was also an upgrade, as I didn’t account for future devices. I started with an eight-port switch, then 2, and then three before finally selling them off and replacing them with this beast.
- 2x UniFi 5 port switch (USW-Flex-Mini) – I wanted to bring some hardwired locations to various areas of the house, and this helped in doing so with their small footprints.
- 6x Unifi6 Pro (U6-Pro-US) – With more and more of the devices on my network having Wi-Fi6, it was only a matter of time until it made sense to upgrade all of the access points to utilize Wi-Fi6.
- MetroNet 1GB Fiber Internet – After waiting two years, MetroNet finally finished their build-out in my area. It was well worth the wait as it is a fraction of the cost of Xfinity and the stable speeds that they provide are simply fantastic.
Audio / Video recording
- Blue Yeti Blackout Mic – When it comes to recording audio, this came highly recommended.
- Blue Compass Premium Tube-Style Broadcast Boom Arm – Originally, I had the mic on my desk but was missing out on the desk space, so I got this to get me a little more room.
- AUPHONIX Pop Filter
- AUPHONIX PRO Blue Yeti Shock Mount
- Lume Cube Panel GO – I do a lot of video conferencing these days via Zoom and wanted to up my lighting.
- Inkeltech Desk Mounting Stand – To position the lighting properly, I picked this up to attach to my desk.
- UTEBIT Mini Ball Head – Used to position the Lume Cube Panel GO
- Logitech C920S HD Pro Webcam – This also came highly recommended and not only was plug-n-play but takes great video for calls.
Software
- Safari – Since the newest release, I have switched to Safari full-time, only using Chrome for random site testing.
- Brave – While I use Safari for everything, I also use Brave daily, mainly for personal use, e.g., non-work-related stuff.
- 1Password – I couldn’t imagine daily operations without 1Password.
- Raycast – While I had been an Alfred user for many years, I switched to
Raycast in Feb 2023 as it seemed to have better integration, and an updated more maintained interface. I hope someday I can get back to Alfred but it just seems like it has not innovated very much if at all over the years. Alfred– This app boosted my productivity by allowing me to keep my hands on the keyboard instead of using the mouse to navigate/launch apps.- Transmit – Simply the best FTP client for OSX
- TextMate2 – I gave Sublime a couple of tries, but Texmate2 works how I need it to.
- Sequel Ace – When you need to access MySQL/MariaDB databases all day, this is a must.