Featured Open Source Project

Hi, I'm Darrin Alves.
Architecting Modern Homelabs & Distributed Systems.

Welcome to my software & infrastructure showcase. I build resilient self-hosted platforms like HomeLab Manager (alvesd/homelab) — a high-availability dashboard combining service uptime SLA monitoring, interactive SSH/noVNC web terminals, Proxmox VE, Cloudflare Zero-Trust, and AI-powered log management into a single, unified interface.

Explore HomeLab Manager Hosting Recommendations
15+ Native Integrations
Active/Active HA Clustering
<50ms Response Times
100% Self-Hosted
docker run -d alvesd/homelab:latest
$ docker pull alvesd/homelab:latest
latest: Pulling from alvesd/homelab
✔ Container image verified (amd64)
$ docker run -d -p 80:3000 -e APP_URL=https://www.alves.us --name homelab alvesd/homelab
⚡ [HA Engine] Write-owner elected: Node-1 (leader)
⚡ [HealthCheck] Active HTTP SLA monitoring initialized
⚡ [Proxmox] Connected to PVE Cluster 'homelab-pve'
⚡ [Cloudflare] Zero-Trust Tunnel status verified (ONLINE)
🚀 HomeLab Manager live at https://www.alves.us
Project Spotlight

HomeLab Manager (alvesd/homelab)

HomeLab Manager is an open-source, full-stack application built to give homelabbers, sysadmins, and DevOps engineers complete command over their home network infrastructure and cloud-hybrid services.

Active/Active HA Clustering

Deploy multiple instances behind a load balancer with automatic write-owner leader election, live snapshot replication, and peer-to-peer WebSocket state synchronization.

Web Terminal (SSH & noVNC)

Full in-browser interactive terminal supporting SSH connections, guest VM noVNC graphical desktops, agent key forwarding, and mobile touch keyboard controls.

24/7 Uptime & SLA Graphs

Real-time background HTTP monitoring with sparklines, p95 response time analytics, 30-day historical availability timelines, and custom SLA targets per service link.

Proxmox, TrueNAS & Portainer

Direct API integration to control PVE VMs/LXCs, TrueNAS zpool status, and Portainer container image updates with one-click automated pull & recreate.

Interactive Interface Showcase

Experience HomeLab Manager

Click through the tabs below to explore real screenshots and interface modules of the HomeLab Manager platform.

HomeLab Manager Main Dashboard
Click to enlarge

Link Management & Smart Grouping

Organize all homelab services, web interfaces, and dashboards with drag-and-drop reordering, custom color-coded groups, live sparkline response times, and AI-powered link organization.

  • ✔ Drag-and-drop link reordering via dnd-kit
  • ✔ Per-link health check toggle & custom health URLs
  • ✔ Customizable background themes, light/dark modes
HomeLab Manager Uptime Monitoring Dashboard
Click to enlarge

Dedicated Uptime & SLA Analytics

Monitor your entire stack's SLA stats across 24h, 7-day, and 30-day windows. Displays average vs p95 latency, availability timeline heatmaps, top-10 slowest services, and sortable SLA tables.

  • ✔ Background HTTP ping loop with configurable SLA targets
  • ✔ Hourly availability timeline & p95 latency distribution
  • ✔ Instant offline alerts & push notifications
HomeLab Manager In-Browser Web Terminal
Click to enlarge

In-Browser Web Terminal & SSH / VNC

Direct terminal access inside the browser. Manage local Docker container shells, connect to remote servers over SSH with agent forwarding/private keys, or launch graphical noVNC desktops.

  • ✔ Xterm.js terminal with mobile touch toolbar
  • ✔ noVNC integration for Proxmox VE guest VMs
  • ✔ Keyring support & secure credential storage
Wake-On-LAN & UniFi Controller Management
Click to enlarge

Wake-On-LAN & UniFi Network Integration

Wake physical servers with magic packets. Supports one-click import from connected UniFi controllers and remote subnet waking via stateless WOL agents.

  • ✔ One-click UniFi client table import
  • ✔ Cross-subnet WOL broadcasting agent mode
  • ✔ Real-time host power status detection
HomeLab Companion Mobile App
Click to enlarge

Native React Native / Expo Mobile App

Full iOS and Android mobile companion app. Provides mobile status parity, FaceID / Fingerprint biometric locking, unified update management, and push alerts.

  • ✔ Biometric secure lock (FaceID / TouchID)
  • ✔ Real-time server push alerts & status indicators
  • ✔ EAS OTA (Over-The-Air) update support
HomeLab Manager Authentication & Security
Click to enlarge

Google OAuth & Role-Based Auth

Multi-user authentication supporting both traditional username/password credentials and Google OAuth single sign-on, complete with fine-grained admin user permissions.

  • ✔ Google OAuth 2.0 Integration
  • ✔ Per-user custom page layout customization
  • ✔ Rate limiting, session security, & Helmet HTTP headers
Deep Tech Stack

Built for Modern Infrastructure

HomeLab Manager bridges the gap between simple link bookmarks and enterprise-grade cluster administration.

☁️

Cloudflare Integration

Full DNS CRUD management, Zero-Trust tunnel state grids with micro-interaction restarts, and real-time GraphQL firewall threat analytics.

🤖

Gemini AI Integration

Smart link organization, background link generation, Synology DSM log summaries, and AI grounded Q&A over your homelab's user manual.

⚡

System Updates & AutoPilot

Consolidated pending updates across Portainer, Proxmox, and TrueNAS. AutoPilot automatically updates containers and snapshots VM guests first.

🗄️

TrueNAS & Synology DSM

Pool & dataset health checks, snapshot verification, OS update detection, and DSM system log ingestion with severity filters.

🐳

Portainer Image Auto-Recreate

Scans container registries for new image tags and allows one-click container recreate to instantly upgrade services.

🏠

Home Assistant & AI Controls

Embed your Home Assistant interface alongside an AI assistant with live entity context — control switches, lights, and draft automation scripts.

Deployment & Hosting Guide

Recommended Hosting Technologies

Whether hosting this showcase website or deploying the alvesd/homelab application server, here is the official architectural guidance.

Interactive Hosting Recommendation Calculator

Select what you are looking to host to see the optimal setup:

TOP RECOMMENDATION

Cloudflare Pages (Static Edge Hosting)

For Darrin Alves' personal showcase website, Cloudflare Pages is the gold standard. It serves static HTML/CSS/JS across 300+ global edge locations with zero hosting cost, unlimited bandwidth, instant Git push deploys, and automatic SSL certificates.

Cost: $0/mo (Free Tier)
Performance: <20ms Global Latency
Setup Complexity: Very Easy (2 mins)
DNS / Domain: Built-in Cloudflare DNS
Quick Deployment Command 
# Deploy to Cloudflare Pages via Wrangler CLI
npx wrangler pages deploy ./website --project-name=darrin-alves-site
Website Hosting

1. Showcase Website Hosting

For hosting static showcase portfolios (like this website):

Cloudflare Pages Recommended

Unlimited bandwidth, 300+ edge locations, instant Git integration, zero cost, free SSL.

Vercel / Netlify Alternative

Great developer experience and preview deployments for Git pull requests.

GitHub Pages Alternative

Zero configuration directly from the alvesd/homelab repository gh-pages branch.

Application Server

2. HomeLab Manager App Hosting

For running the alvesd/homelab Docker platform:

Proxmox VE / Home Mini-PC Recommended

Run Docker inside an LXC container or Alpine VM on hardware like Intel NUC or Minisforum. Expose via Cloudflare Zero-Trust Tunnel for secure portless remote access.

Active/Active HA Cluster High Availability

Deploy 2+ nodes behind Nginx/Traefik utilizing HomeLab Manager's write-owner leader election and WebSocket state replication.

Hetzner Cloud / VPS Cloud Option

Run on a $4-$6/mo Hetzner or DigitalOcean droplet with Docker Compose for 99.99% uptime outside the home network.

Engineering Specifications

System Architecture

A look under the hood at how HomeLab Manager is structured for performance and security.

Backend & Infrastructure

  • Runtime: Node.js 22 LTS / Express 5
  • Language: TypeScript with strict typing
  • Realtime Protocol: WebSockets (ws) for state & terminal
  • Database: SQLite / sql.js with file persistence
  • Remote Shell: ssh2 & @novnc/novnc
  • AI Core: Google Gemini SDK (@google/genai)

Frontend & Mobile Client

  • UI Framework: React 19 + Vite 8
  • Styling: Tailwind CSS v4 & custom glass variables
  • Drag & Drop: @dnd-kit/core & sortable
  • Charts: Recharts SVG analytics
  • Terminal UI: Xterm.js v6 with fit addon
  • Mobile App: React Native / Expo + EAS
Quick Start

Deploy HomeLab Manager in Seconds

Launch your own HomeLab Manager instance using official Docker images. 

docker run -d \
  --name homelab \
  -p 80:3000 \
  -v $(pwd)/data:/app/data \
  -e APP_URL=http://localhost:80 \
  -e SESSION_SECRET=change-this-secret-in-production \
  -e ADMIN_USERNAME=admin \
  -e ADMIN_PASSWORD=adminpassword \
  alvesd/homelab:latest
version: '3.8'

services:
  homelab:
    image: alvesd/homelab:latest
    container_name: homelab
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "80:3000"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - APP_URL=http://localhost:80
      - SESSION_SECRET=your-random-secret-key
      - ADMIN_USERNAME=admin
      - ADMIN_PASSWORD=adminpassword