Oh this looks interesting, I'll have to gawk at this a bit! Thanks!

Yyeeeaaahhh this is the part I think that will surprise people the most, the bills combined are what makes things unpalatable IMO...

I too want a safer Canada, but at what cost? The metadata collected will be paramount to a complete digital profile, with the Government knowing LITERALLY everything about every citizen. It's too much...

I think this is a great thing, otherwise Kingston will be missing out, big time. As the largest of all the small cities between Toronto, Ottawa/Gatineau and Montreal, it's always been somewhat of a 'mini hub' and being left out of the high-speed rail system would I think, hurt Kingston long term.

HHhhmm... Do container/docker install option. This is why it's probably stagnated in adoption from the selfhosted community.

It needs a container based install, no one likes installing dependencies and crud onto their pristine environments any longer.

Blocking them locally is one way, but if you're already using cloudflare there's a nice way to do it UPSTREAM so it's not eating any of your resources.

You can do geofencing/blocking and bot-blocking via Cloudflare:
https://corelab.tech/cloudflarept2/

Welcome to the self-hosting trenches. Don't worry about the "burning yourself" part - in this hobby, we consider those "tactical lessons." Everyone has ah, "re-started" things at least a few times!

Actually, your plan isn't "not very smart"—it’s a classic move we call Decoupling Compute from Storage. It is the most future-proof way to build a Digital Fortress. By separating your "Brain" (HP Mini) from your "Vault" (Asustor), you ensure that if one fails, the other stays standing. This is a great move.

Here's how I see your planned setup:
**The Command Center: HP Z2 Mini - Xeon and Proxmox **

The Xeon 1245-v5 is a beast compared to that Celeron. Running Proxmox here is exactly the right call.
The Strategy: Use that M.2 drive for your Proxmox "Data" (the LXCs and VM boot drives). Services like Immich and Navidrome rely on fast databases; running them on an SSD on the Xeon node will make them feel lightning-fast.

The Gear: With 32GB of RAM, this is what I'd call an "Elite Node." You have plenty of head-room to grow.
**
The Vault: Asustor (Celeron N5105) **
TrueNAS SCALE is "Heavy Armor." Running it on a 2-bay Celeron is like putting tank treads on a scout bike - it’s overkill and eats up the limited RAM that Celeron has to offer.

The OS Choice: I’d strongly suggest OpenMediaVault 8 (OMV) for the Asustor. In my 2026 NAS OS Comparison Guide, I categorize OMV as the "Lightweight Tactical" choice. It’s built on Debian 13, is incredibly lean, and is the best way to turn low-power hardware into a rock-solid network drive. You’ve already tasted the freedom of a custom OS. Going back to ADM now will feel like a "vendor-lock-in" cage. OMV is the perfect middle ground... **
How they talk to each other **
Wipe the Asustor, install OMV, and set up a simple NFS or SMB share. In Proxmox, you "mount" that network share. Your apps on the HP Mini will "see" the Asustor drives as if they were plugged in locally.

Is it a good idea? Yes . If you ever want more drive bays in the future, you just swap out the Asustor "Vault" for something bigger (like a 6-bay DIY build or a UGREEN box), and your HP Mini "Command Center" never even has to go offline.

I recently broke down the "Battle Card" for why OMV is the king of low-power storage nodes in 2026. You might find the comparison table helpful for your specific hardware: NAS OS Comparison

It's literally based off the NAS comparison guide I posted... This is like a text book way to move forward for someone. My solution is like a giant all in one+a NAS, but a lllooottt of people have a decoupled solution.

One of the beautiful things about self-hosting; do what you want.

A good point indeed!

Two current methodologies in practice these says, mostly.

1. Dump your 'smart' devices (Including the spyware TV) into their own "IOT" style VLAN and block it from touching your own network but allow it to reach internet, or NOT.
2. Network wide adware/spyware/analytics blocking via adguard/pihole/unbound etc...

I'll end up writing a guide for this at some point ;)

Glad you read & enjoyed it! I aim for comprehensive coverage of a topic so some of the posts can be a bit long, but in the end cover a lot of ground.

Thanks - Cross-posted over there!

Hahaha yes... I agree... I was very hesitant to include this as my header pic but I was like, eehhh, it's realistic at least! The key is it shows certain 'apps' running on that Google TV. 😆

Exact same functionality as Overseerr and Jellyseerr since it's the merged product of both!

I switched over last night, migration guide here, it's really easy!

OOhhh I didn't know about this!!! Thanks so much, I'll be playing with that later...

Hey thanks for the update & reading the post!

I know they are available, when someone can find one! But people are still reporting the region lock issue right up to Nov 2025! https://troypointinsider.com/...

I also had this snippet in about the ethernet: "😲Warning - The Onn 4K Ethernet Bug & The Fix: The Onn 4K Pro has a known firmware bug with generic USB Ethernet adapters. If you want hardwired Gigabit speeds, you MUST use an adapter with the ASIX AX88179 chipset (like Cable Matters), not the Realtek ones."

Yeah honestly CBC Gem isn't expensive in the grand scheme of things (Especially if you get the annual sub on sale) and has pretty good Canadian content!

OOhh very nice! ...

I've been hesitant to include links for this on the blog / guide but, this is quite the 'educational resource' you've shared!!!

I've been using Unifi APs since 2017 and they are fantastic. I control them with the Unifi Network Application via docker compose. Incredibly well priced APs that fit right into the 'prosumer' market for sure and still powerful enough to do SMB no problem.

As for FOSS Networking options - OPNsense FTW !!! It's an open source firewall/router based on FreeBSD and extremely performant, feature rich, stable and secure... Absolutely love it, it's the core of my network.

In regards to ZFS, I've been running a ZFS system of one type or another at home since 2013/2014... Totally valid & usable for home networks, many many do use ZFS storage systems. I'm very preferential to OpenMediaVault which is a NAS OS, but based directly on Debian! Debian is basically the Linux OS you want for reliability but paired with OMV's gui - makes having a custom NAS easy.

I haven't used Kodi since about 2014 so I wouldn't feel comfortable giving advice about it to be honest. That and IMO it became cumbersome to manage with a higher barrier technically, for entry compare to plex at the time, and now we have jellyfin as an option of course.

The last person I know using Kodi switched to jellyfin about 2-3 years ago.

I have a step by step guide on how to deploy the aarrrs and even a docker compose generator =)

https://corelab.tech/...

Yes sadly there's a bit of a stranglehold on the market regarding sports. It's the one thing that is held very close to the chest by the large Corps & broadcasters.

Thanks for taking a read through! Lots more to come ;)

Fair enough, all solid points.

BTW - I am not the dev of JellyWatch.