Alex Kretzschmar
@alex
We're joined by Xe Iaso, who discusses a creative solution to relentless AI bots and the unexpected delights of running an outrageously overpowered homelab.
When your go-to tools flip the script, our thoughts on Plex's new changes, sensors, and the creeping cost of easy.
Alex’s server meets a tragic end—but its replacement is shaping up to be a beast. Meanwhile, Chris experiments with budget CO₂ detectors, sirens, and smart integrations. Plus some surprises!
The joys and headaches of self-hosting, a new Zigbee routing trick, and the ongoing BcacheFS vs. Debian showdown. Plus, why we're liking Open WebUI.
Chris geeks out over his new gadget, Alex gets Pangolin purring, and we break down the latest OPNsense release—plus more surprises!
Bambu Labs teaches us how to lose friends and alienate people. Then, Alex Tran from Immich joins us for a project update, and we shared some dreams for a community RSS project.
Alex dives into the perils of upgrading and migrating critical infrastructure—uncovering embarrassing pitfalls and hard-won lessons along the way.
The Home Assistant Voice Preview Edition is out, and Paulus Schoutsen, the founder of Home Assistant, joins us to get into the details.
We geek out over Brian Moses's 2025 DIY NAS build guide, contemplate future builds with the new Raspberry Pi Compute 5 module, and fully embrace our digital hoarding nature with a new app.
Breaking free from Google's grip: Our surprising journey and the tools that made it possible. Plus, Brent's NAS feature stirring up debate, s clever tool for distributed video encoding, and more.
From Nextcloud Breakup to Blissful Reunion: Chris's journey back to a smarter setup. Plus, Jellyfin's game-changing features and a beloved self-hosted app get the upgrade we've all been waiting for.
"The" self-hosted app to archive your favorite YouTube channels and easily integrate into Jellyfin/Plex. Plus, our favorite WordPress alternatives and an update on No Google October.
Ditching Google Search for an entire month! We reveal the tool that's helping us break free. Plus, a special guest shares his home lab to data center journey. And, Chris raves about the ultimate Jellyfin client (and confesses to an accidental network camera purchase).
Alex has been playing around at the speed of light while solving Proxmox problems, and Chris has solved a Jellyfin issue. Plus, our thoughts on the new Plex features.
We celebrate five years of the show, chat about self-hosted Lightning, and why Alex loves his NanoKVM. Plus, it is a self-hosted replacement for Amazon Wishlists and more.
Prusa's Mk4S 3D printer seems to have hit the mark. Alex gets a tour of an awesome new maker space, we take a look at AdventureLog, and much more.
The battle for code forges is heating up. We chat about HexOS' big promises and get excited about Meshtastic.
ESPHome dev dishes on device updates, Immich license drama heats up, Alex's DIY server fix, and Chris reports on mobile tech trip test.
Chris gets serious about tracking maintenance and alerts, why Alex is impressed by the RISC-V-powered NanoKVM, how we might end up using Docmost, and a follow-up review of LubeLogger.
Alex's mini-PC surprise, why we're trying Tube Archivist, Alex's Nextcloud update, and how Chris stacks automations with Bitfocus Companion.
The "you'll own nothing" trend got worse this week, our thoughts about the Raspberry Pi IPO, poor Nextcloud performance, and Alex's new high-fiber obsession.
Alex benchmarks Intel CPUs (and an Arc GPU) to find the ideal balance of age, power, and speed for your home media server. Plus, our thoughts on Immich going full-time.
How Chris created live TV streaming from his local media collection, Alex breaks down the new Open Home Foundation and what it means for self-hosters. Brent's been trying out an open-source AirDrop replacement for all systems, and much more!
Special guest Casey Liss from the Accidental Tech Podcast joins the show to discuss his homelab, how he uses HomeBridge, and his delightfully complex garage door sensor system.
Alex goes head-to-head with budget VPS providers, which gets us into a classic debate, and Adam Morales from Unraid joins us!
Alex rolls back a major server upgrade, and we have fun playing with local large language models.
Alex's new Epyc server build, and Jon Seager from Canonical joins us to chat about Nix in the homelab, packaging Scrutiny, and how Nix fits with existing infrastructure management tools.
We chat about VMware's rug pull with Bret, aka Raid Owl, and then get into Unraid's big changes and more.
Alex has been deep-diving into container networking, and Chris is trying to steelman Plex's new rental service.
Brian Moses joins us and shares his most recent NAS build and love for 3D printers. Then Alex gets into the hardware he's deploying around the house, and why we don't see eye-to-eye on ZigBee.
We kick off the new year with new apps in our home lab you’ll want to try and a new way to do networking.
We look back at what has changed, what's failed us, and what's sticking around in our homelabs.
Alex shares a new build integrating WLED, and Chirs reviews hardware that can get you started with WLED in 45 seconds. Then, one last big update on the Year of Voice and our thoughts on self-hosting push notifications.
We break down the state of the pfSense changes and the red flags we see. Plus, we're joined by Wolfgang from Wolfgang's channel to dig into his homelab and much more.
That man behind the Google Photos killer joins us to chat about the latest release of Immich. Plus, Alex's first impressions of 45Homelab's HL15.
How we almost lost valuable data this week, and a Chat with Doug and Mitch about their new home lab server.
With a dose of pragmatism and optimism, we chat about making the best out of old hardware and where we draw the line and buy new.
Our thoughts on two recent Plex crackdowns, why the Apple TV just got a lot better, how home Assistant could improve 10 years in, and much more.
Alex sits down with the lead developer of mergerfs to get an update on the project, Chris has a button-pushing breakthrough and more.
Alex does a significant overhaul of his website and unpacks a new GitHub action workflow. Chris finally achieves complete local voice control of his network, we complain about the state of domain name sellers, and more.
A few tools to build your own Way Back Machine, we check in with the "Year of Voice" and more.
Alex shares a suite of self-hosted apps that replace Reddit. Chris is struggling with Jellyfin, and we discuss where NixOS is killing it and where we think it falls down.
The advantages of Federating a local and remote Nextcloud, Chris replaces Google Home Hub's photo powers and the new docker-compose feature that will change Alex's entire setup.
We cover our must-have self-hosted apps, reflect on the state of Self-Hosting now, and discuss what's new in Proxmox 8.
We dive into Lemmy, a self-hosted Reddit alternative. Plus, a couple of easy-to-deploy tools that make life better.
We chat with 45Drives about their ambitions to build a home-lab server that bridges the gap between enterprise-level servers and consumer-grade NAS products. And more.
Alex tempts Chris with his Obsidian ways, our thoughts on Drobo going bankrupt, and Photoprism adding paid tiers. Plus, the slick suite of tools you'll want to run on your LAN.
Why Chris needs ANOTHER Home Assistant instance and a major breakthrough for self-hosters.
We debate if users learned their lesson from the Docker Hub drama, the silent self-hosting winner going from strength to strength.
Chris integrates full home power monitoring into Home Assistant, while Alex tames the AI and rushes to replace Dark Sky.
Alex goes all in on Rootless Podman, Chris is saving his Nextcloud install from disaster, and a special guest joins us.
Find out why Alex ripped out everything installed last episode and is starting fresh with new gear, wires, and a new goal.
Alex has been swapping hardware and standing-up services. It's a network rebuild episode and more!
Alex has major Proxmox problems. What happened, and the fix for now. Plus, the real downside to Wifi cameras and the batch of network gear on the way.
Join us for the surprising conclusion to our month-long challenge.
Alex dives deep to find out if Kubernetes is overkill for the home and finds solutions to simplify things. And Chris has a new firmware that turns his favorite network cameras up to 11.
We kick off our Jellyfin January challenge and invite you to join us. Plus, Chris has some new hardware and our thoughts on the trouble at the Matrix foundation.
What disgusted Alex about Disqus, and how he replaced it with a Self-Hosted solution, a hot HDHomeRun tip, and an update on Chris' hunt for the perfect notes app.
Wendell from Level One Techs joins us to catch up on low-power hardware, his home automation setup, and thoughts on so much more.
Sometimes your best upgrades are unplanned; Chris just got his Home Assistant Yellow fully deployed.
Alex gives Roon Labs whole home audio a try but discovers a critical design flaw while Chris checks out his new ODROID-H3+ and plans his next epic build.
Chris' Raspberry Pi server is dead, and Alex has a few ideas for his next build.
Alex is replacing his Chromecast and Google Nest Mini with an open-source solution, and why we’re all getting a little hyped about Matter.
We've made some changes since the last episode, and share why we have doubled down on Self-Hosting as much as possible.
We learned some really hard lessons this week, and reflect. Then Chris finds the perfect temperature sensor, and Alex finds a beautiful media discovery app.
What is it like to live with another man's automations? Brent spills all.
Alex runs us through his new and improved off-site backup setup, and Chris is trying out some Shelly devices.
Our thoughts on the new Works with Home Assistant program, some changes to Alex's off-site backup server, and a million bits of great feedback.
Our guest this week has more Raspberry Pis than anyone we've ever met. We get insights into all the projects he used them for, what's worked great, and what's not worked at all.
A special episode today as TechnoTim joins Alex to discuss everything Kubernetes and HomeLab. The #100DaysOfHomeLab initiative from Tim is just getting started, find out what it’s all about in today's episode.
A quick-fire round of projects this week, your feedback, and a discussion about the future of Self-Hosting.
Alex has found the perfect tool to bring your recipe management into the future. Plus, a convenient trick for scripts with passwords, dying hard drives, and the killer new Proxmox feature.
Alex replaces another Google service; we point the community spotlight at FuzzyMistborn plus your feedback!
Alex shares some handy tools, and some old friends join us for a special edition of the show.
We chat about Wyze's recent real bad, no-good security news, why Plex Discover has potential but hasn't impressed us yet, and a brief tour of Alex's home network setup.
Why Chris is moving away from using Containers, Alex's new project, and some great follow-up.
We look back at our favorite moments from the last ten years of the Raspberry Pi, why you might want to start considering one, and where we want to see the platform evolve.
Alex gives the new TrueNAS SCALE a go and hits a snag.
Sometimes we get a bit carried away; we dial it back and share some self-hosting long-timer insights.
Alex has a new high-quality self-hosted music setup, and Chris solves complicated Internet problems.
Alex got some new devices for Christmas, and we set off figuring out how to integrate them into his network.
Some old friends of JB join Alex to discuss 3D printing.
Recent AWS outages sent Alex on a hunt to find more self-hosted alternatives, and Chris digs into the latest Home Assistant release.
We try out a couple of very popular Docker GUI's and report back, and discuss our biggest Self-Hosted regrets.
This week we unlock the "Pi"tential of the Compute Module 4 and turn it into a dual gigabit router and Jellyfin server.
Troubleshooting goes very wrong for Alex, and he puts his backups to the ultimate test.
Local self-hosted video capture with AI object detection just got easy. Morgan joins us to detail his Frigate setup and its optional tight integration with Home Assistant.
A lot is changing in Home Assistant land, and it's almost all for the better; we break down the essential items.
Alex is abroad and uses the opportunity to build out not one but two ultimate self-hosted off-site servers. We share the hardware, software, and networking details.
We chat with Matt from Adventurous Way about the home automations that have improved his quality of life, the clever way he manages their off-grid rig, and the new smart home project he's just kicking off.
We report back on our DeGoogle challenge and read your top Google Alternative apps and services.
We discuss the ramifications of Apple's local photo scanning announcement on your privacy, why everything seems to be a subscription these days, and a new challenge for the show.
We discuss Chris's latest wall-mounted tablet solution for Home Assistant and several scripts to pimp your Plex setup.
Updates gone wrong, surprise hardware failures, and flooding out all our electronics in a single go. We've got a lot to catch you up on.
Tuya shocks us by announcing native Home Assistant support, we have an update on a smart doorbell Ring alternative, and we tell all about how PiKVM just leveled up in awesome.
We take a look at a self-hosted TeamViewer alternative, give you our take on some Home Assistant drama and discuss the effects of a new crypto coin on hard drive prices.
We'll share how we deployed a painless, Self-Hosted Pastebin replacement, and what we like the most about it.
Join us for a chat with Paulus, the founder of Home Assistant, as we look to the project's future, hardware devices, new standards, and more.
Plex announces some big plans that make us a little nervous, Alex solves Chris's tablet performance woes, and we chat about Prometheus.
Alex has a new trick for local and remote backups, and shares his thoughts on Synology's DS series NAS.
A record is broken, a life goal is achieved, and why we are going long on Linksys.
Special guest Jeff Geerling tells us how he got 16 drives connected to one Pi.
We react to Home Assistant password shaming us and then reflect on the OVH fire while attempting to solve a "growing" cloud problem.
Our favorite LastPass alternative, why more boxes might be better than one, and we confess to an undying love.
Alex shocks Chris with his latest project, then lays down some quick-fire picks.
We discuss recent Home Assistant security news, and how we think the project could improve.
Our favorite Google Docs killer with markdown support has a big update. We explain how we host it and why we love it.
Alex reveals the culmination of five years of work into the Perfect Media Server.
Chris discovers a networking miracle, Alex has been playing with electrics, and we review the Wyze Cam 3.
Alex puts the fantastic-looking, ARM-powered NAS known as the Helios64 to the test.
With rage in our hearts, we proclaim a Self-Hosted Google Photos replacement, and the only way to self-host your email.
We have a philosophical debate on cloud vs local and Alex experiences full-blown Americana this Halloween.
Chris gets left out in the cold after a Home Assistant glitch, and Alex puts a big batch of USB hard drives to the test.
We speak to Kevin and Patricia from Traefik, discuss Alex's recent ZFS snafu and we wonder if the new Chromecasts can match up to the Nvidia Shield.
We get fancy with Traefik labels, and gush over some new Home Assistant features while saving our data from inevitable future failure.
Some big news for Jupiter Broadcasting and a picture-perfect app-pick with Lychee. Chris politely suggests Alex reconsider his Syncthing doubts.
Mike and Wes join us to discuss the recent Docker news, freeing your Robovac from the cloud and why Alex really loves Terraforms.
Jon shares the story of how Docker came to Unraid, hints at future subscription plans, performance features coming, and much more.
Chris figures out how hot is too hot, Alex performs an extreme remote firewall install, and we share some of our favorite SSH tricks.
We've spent thousands of dollars and over a decade refining the perfect home media setup. We get nostalgic and share what worked and what REALLY didn't.
Chris is slow cooking some servers, Alex has self-hosted AI with a nasty gotcha and a damp basement.
Serverbuilds.net’s founder JDM joins us to discuss the perfect sever for low or high-end needs, and Alex stages a Pi intervention.
You're not a true self-hoster until you've lost your entire configuration at least once. Alex does a deep dive into cloud backup, plus we need your help to find the right Wifi solution for a listener.
We react to recently proposed Home Assistant changes, Alex attempts an extreme remote install, and we take a look at HomelabOS.
We were almost outsmarted by a not so smart doorbell, Jellyfin makes Alex's prediction dreams come true and Chris tries QOwnNotes again.
We share some of our top tips for getting started with Self-Hosting and cover some more network basics.
We share some WiFi tips and essential network ideas.
We have a neat self-hosted home inventory management system for preppers of any type, plus Chris' simple Home Assistant trick and Alex's valiant battle with the WebSockets daemon of the reverse proxies.
Wendell Wilson is back, and he and Chris are struggling with their automation setups. Also, we chat about ideal home server hardware for a server or a pfSense box.
Self-Hosted IRC solutions are better than ever. Alan Pope joins us to make a case for the classic way to communicate online and tells us about a modern client for the web, mobile, and desktop you run on your server.
We try out the top self-hosted Wikis and tell you which we like best, and Chris has a major project off-grid update.
We each like different blogging platforms, and share why. Then our tips for keeping your server secure.
Wyze and Xiaomi suffer major cloud hosted blunders, so Alex tells us about his new fully offline camera security system, tied into Shinobi.
Join Alex and Brent for a chat about upgrading your home network with an eye towards stability, simplicity, and hosting things yourself.
Master of details, open source advocate and YouTuber, Quindor from Intermittent.Tech joins us for a chat about tuya-convert to avoid planned hardware obsolescence, his new 100TB server build, highly available home setups, and his DIY LED project.
Sometimes one project can lead to a hundred more. We celebrate Home Assistant's new release, the inclusion of the WLED integration and fall down the DIY project rabbit hole.
Home Assistant has changed our families' lives for the better. We share tips for getting started, implementing automation, devices we use, and our favorite integrations.
Chris follows up on his Shinobi troubles and extols the virtues of $25 Wyze Cams to Alex, who has some exciting house news to share.
Getting your storage setup just right often takes making painful mistakes first. We share ours, our current storage setups, when ZFS is not the tool for the job, and what you should consider when protecting your data.
Alex, Drew from ChooseLinux, and Brent (of the Brunch fame) sit down with Antonio Musumeci, the developer of mergerfs during the JB sprint. It is a union filesystem geared towards simplifying storage and management of files across numerous commodity storage devices, it is similar to mhddfs, unionfs, and aufs.
Plex Co-Founder and CTO Elan Feingold shares why he started Plex, its future direction, his home setup, his love for electric cars and the beach.
How far can you get with a Raspberry Pi 4? We go all in and find out.
Chris, Alex, and Wes talk about reverse proxies, internal routing, and some popular methods to make it all work.
We visit Wendell Wilson of [Level1Techs](https://level1techs.com/) and get a tour of his self-hosted setup.
Alex and Chris are hard at work on the next Self-Hosted episode, here's a behind the scenes real moment from their recent production meeting.
You've been wanting to host a Nextcloud instance (or anything else) for your family for a while now. Where on Earth do you start? We share some hard learned lessons about self-hosting, discuss the most important things to consider when building a home server and Chris gives Alex a hard time about Arch as a Server OS.
Brent joins Alex and Chris to discuss the origins of Jupiter Broadcasting's new Self Hosted podcast. It's a casual chat about a project in the making for two years, hit play and the drinks are on us.
Brent welcomes Alex into the podcast family and discusses his long journey from Apple to Red Hat, and London to Raleigh. Plus some tidbits about the new show he's co-hosting on Jupiter Broadcasting and spending time with the crew.
A new show that is your gateway to self hosting all the things, owning your data and talking about local and cloud hosting that you control.
