homelab

If you are looking for a practical way to digitize your physical mail delivery, this post details how I built a wireless notification system using a Raspberry Pi Zero WH and a Ruuvitag beacon. I explain my specific design choices, including leveraging the Pi's Bluetooth capabilities to detect mail arrival via the sensor's accelerometer and integrating Azure Logic Apps for immediate alerts.

I share how I enhanced my home network security by deploying a Tailscale solution that eliminates the need for firewall port forwarding and NAT rules. By leveraging a Raspberry Pi to expose my internal subnet and integrating Pi-Hole via Magic DNS, I achieved seamless, passwordless remote access to all my services as if they were on the same LAN.

I share how I replaced the LED display on my Raspberry Pi temperature monitor by integrating Twilio and the WhatsApp API to send direct notifications to my phone. This approach allows me to bypass visual alerts and instead receive immediate alerts on significant temperature changes through a platform everyone already uses.

With the shift to remote work, I explore why a Point-to-Site VPN remains relevant for accessing Azure-based resources like file shares and virtual machines from home. I detail how leveraging Azure AD authentication simplifies the traditional setup, avoiding the cumbersome management of certificates or RADIUS servers while providing secure access to the cloud.

After a recent ISP outage disrupted my home network, I realized I needed a reliable way to monitor my internet connectivity from outside my local environment. I demonstrate how to leverage Azure Application Insights to ping my existing Plex Media Server API every five minutes, creating a simple and effective uptime monitor that alerts me only when the connection fails.