Core Architecture

How everything in the home lab connects — from the physical hardware to the apps running on top.

Overview

At the center is a M5 Mac Mini running everything locally. It connects to a UGREEN NAS for redundant storage, exposes services via Cloudflare tunnels, and syncs across all my devices using TailScale as the backbone VPN.

The whole setup is designed around one idea: own the data, own the compute, own the pipeline.

Component Map

Compute & Storage

• Mac Mini (M5) — core compute node. Runs all services, containers, and automation.
• UGREEN NAS — RAID-1 storage (2x 4TB HDD). Backup target + Obsidian vault storage.

Networking & Access

• Cloudflare — domain registrar + DNS + tunnel provider. Zero-trust tunnel means no open ports on home network.
• TailScale — VPN mesh for remote access. Devices on the tailnet can reach the Mac Mini directly.

Knowledge & Publishing

• Obsidian — second brain. Notes live in iujinwee-vault, synced in real-time via Self-hosted LiveSync plugin to the NAS.
• Garden (garden.iujinwee.cc) — public-facing blog. Automatically syncs from iujinwee-vault/00 Blogs to publish posts.

Web Presence

• Portfolio (portfolio.iujinwee.cc) — personal site, hosted on Mac Mini, served via Cloudflare tunnel.
• Redirect subdomains — github.iujinwee.cc, linkedin.iujinwee.cc — simple URL redirects via Cloudflare.

Cross-Device Sync

The vault stays in sync across three surfaces:

Device	How
Mac Mini (home)	Source of truth, runs LiveSync server
Mobile (iPhone)	Obsidian app + LiveSync client → NAS
Desktop (work/travel)	TailScale → reach Mac Mini or NAS directly

Data Flow

[Write note on mobile]
        ↓
[Obsidian LiveSync → NAS]
        ↓
[Mac Mini picks up change]
        ↓
[00 Blogs/ syncs → Garden blog]
        ↓
[Cloudflare tunnel → public at garden.iujinwee.cc]

Architecture Diagram

To be filled up!