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For the past 4+ years, I have maintained a home server, running various versions of FreeNAS. This itself was a replacement for a cobbled together and informal version, until I opted to build a dedicated system, roughly 2015. Combined total, I managed to squeeze out about 15 TB of storage, using a variety of shucked drives and new drives – 4x 4 TB and 3x 3 TB in a pair of Raid-Z1 vdevs (two large volumes with a single failure drive for both sets). These drives, using Western Digital Red drives, have been very reliable. To date, I have not…
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After many weeks, months (and years) waiting, the actual build of the new home has begun with the ground breaking. This was delayed from last week due to some apparent challenges with the utilities (who measured and placed the utility box in the middle of the future driveway). That hurdle was finally cleared, which allowed the digging to begin. In theory, we are still on track for a completion mid-October, but keeping the fingers crossed for no major further complications.
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In preparation for the new home, and my plans to improve overall the new networking, I have implemented a virtual server running Pi-Hole. Functionally, Pi-Hole is a software tool that attempts to block all advertisements, similar to a web browser adblocker, except it can be used to block all traffic from all devices on the network. Thus it can also eliminate ads on Roku or cell phone devices, which typically can’t load adblockers. Functionally, this also removes adds from YouTube and similar platforms. In my case, I opted for a virtual machine running on my home FreeNAS server, but this…
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I havent posted anything regarding our Age of Ashes campaign in a while, since we discontinued the video efforts for the storyline. This campaign continues on pace, with our bi-weekly games, and we continue to use Fantasy Grounds Classic for the sessions. Just recently, the group wrapped up Chapter 2 successfully, and we quickly moved into Chapter 3. The group is already level 9, which provides a lot of overall power for the group, especially given the large player size. This causes its own challenges in the story – it can be difficult to scale an encounter for an oversized…
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Its been a while since my site has had any activity, primarily because I have been fairly heavily distracted by outside issues. In order to try to correct that, I am going to try again to establish a routine, and post updates on various factors. Likely, this will be less gaming related and more real-life oriented, at least for the next couple of months. The big milestone is that we have sorted out and finalized the old house, which is now officially sold and gone. We closed on the paperwork last Friday, the final funds are to being transferred today.…
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As a temporary measure, while the new house is being built, we are living with the inlaws. Although this brings its share of pros and cons, one of the larger impacts has been internet and network connectivity. Between my day job and various hobbies, I utilize quite a bit of internet bandwidth, and our home network is rather robust. That has been a bit of an adjustment, since the inlaws don’t really need the internet much, and have limited wifi usage (and very little hardwire connectivity). As a result, I have had to get a bit creative. The first challenge…
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Continuing the process of selling and relocating, we passed another major milestone. With the results of the house inspection, we have settled on and agreed with the buyer on the level of repairs and/or compensation required. The final step is now the formal bank appraisal of the house (which is not really an area of concern), to be followed by the final closing of the property transaction. In the meantime, we are still on standby with the builders, pending the scheduling of our first project meeting. At that point, they will lay out the timeline and process, along with confirming…
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Following another kickstarter (Fate’s End Dice Towers), I have a growing collection of themed dice towers in 3d printer formats, ready for printing and creation. This was more of a fun collection, rather than a truly useful or practical effort – but with kickstarter, there are lots of inexpensive projects. Each design is a set of towers, with a few modular options, which follow a profession or other theme. Assembled, the create a fun dice tower for in-person gaming. I have printed a couple so far, but my personal favorite is the Ranger tower (I am always partial to archers).…
Halfling13 Hobbies
Something about nothing – a collection of miscellaneous hobbies
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