My Proxmox Homelab Plan for Real-World Home Use Cases

Intro

After installing Proxmox VE 9.2 on my Dell OptiPlex 3070 Micro, the next step is deciding which services should actually run on it.

The goal is not simply to run as many virtual machines as possible, but to build a small, useful, and power-efficient home server for real-world use cases.

My current Proxmox server specifications are:

• Dell OptiPlex 3070 Micro
• Intel Core i3-9100T
• 16GB DDR4 RAM
• 256GB NVMe SSD
• Proxmox VE 9.2
• ZFS

My planned Proxmox architecture:

:::code Proxmox VE ├── LXC: Frigate + Docker ├── LXC: Jellyfin ├── LXC: Monitoring ├── VM: Immich + Docker ├── VM: Home Assistant OS └── VM: Standby Windows or Linux :::

1. Frigate for CCTV Detection

Purpose

Frigate will be used specifically for intelligent CCTV analysis. My existing NVR will remain responsible for the main camera recording system.

Deployment

:::code Proxmox └── LXC └── Docker └── Frigate :::

The Intel integrated GPU will be used where possible for hardware video decoding and OpenVINO object detection.

Main Functions

• Person and object detection
• Perimeter monitoring
• Selected RTSP camera analysis
• Detection events for Home Assistant

Frigate will only handle CCTV intelligence. If GPU passthrough through LXC becomes difficult or unstable, moving Frigate to a dedicated Linux VM remains an option.

2. Jellyfin for Local Media Streaming

Purpose

Jellyfin will be used as the home media server. Its main job is to organize and stream movies, TV shows, and other media to devices inside the home network.

Deployment

Jellyfin will run inside its own LXC container.

:::code Proxmox └── LXC └── Jellyfin :::

Main Functions

• Movie and TV library management
• Local network streaming
• Media metadata
• Playback to TVs, phones, and computers

Direct Play will be preferred whenever possible. The Intel Core i3-9100T also has integrated Intel graphics, so hardware transcoding can be explored later if required.

Scope Boundary

Jellyfin will only handle media library management and playback. Large media files will eventually be stored outside the 256GB Proxmox system SSD.

3. Monitoring for Network and Server Visibility

Purpose

A dedicated monitoring LXC will provide historical visibility into the health of the homelab and home network.

Deployment

:::code Proxmox └── LXC └── Monitoring ├── Uptime Kuma ├── VictoriaMetrics └── Grafana :::

Main Functions

• Internet uptime and latency
• Proxmox availability
• Server and service uptime
• CPU, RAM, and disk usage
• Network device availability

The main goal is historical visibility. If something becomes slow or unavailable, I can review previous data instead of relying on memory.

Additional exporters can be added later only when required.

4. Immich for Photo and Video Management

Purpose

Immich will be used as a private photo and video management platform, including automatic mobile photo backup.

Deployment

Immich will run inside a lightweight Debian VM using Docker.

:::code Proxmox └── Debian VM └── Docker └── Immich :::

Initial resource allocation:

:::code 2 vCPU 6GB RAM :::

Main Functions

• Photo and video library management
• Automatic mobile backup
• Search and organization
• Private access to personal media

The Immich application and database can remain on fast NVMe storage, while the main photo and video library can later be moved to larger storage.

5. Home Assistant OS for Home Automation

Purpose

Home Assistant will be the central platform for smart-home automation.

Deployment

:::code Proxmox └── VM └── Home Assistant OS ├── Home Assistant └── Mosquitto MQTT :::

Main Functions

• Temperature sensors
• Smart lights and switches
• Network devices
• Frigate detection events
• Home status sensors
• Automation routines

Mosquitto MQTT will provide the communication layer between Frigate and Home Assistant.

For example:

:::code Camera ↓ Frigate ↓ MQTT ↓ Home Assistant ↓ Notification / Automation :::

6. Standby Windows or Linux VM

Purpose

The standby VM will provide a general-purpose environment for temporary tasks.

Deployment

This will be a normal Proxmox virtual machine.
Depending on the requirement, it may run:

• Windows (Most likely windows LTSC version)
• Ubuntu
• Debian
• Another Linux distribution

Main Functions

• Remote administration
• Network troubleshooting
• Software testing
• Configuration utilities
• Temporary development
• Windows-only applications

Scope Boundary

This VM is not intended to host permanent production services. Permanent applications should remain in their dedicated LXC containers or VMs.

7. Resource Planning

The current host has:

• Intel Core i3-9100T
• 4 cores / 4 threads
• 16GB RAM
• 256GB NVMe SSD

Initial resource allocation:

:::code Frigate 2 vCPU 4GB RAM Jellyfin 1 vCPU 2GB RAM Monitoring 1 vCPU 1GB RAM Immich 2 vCPU 6GB RAM Home Assistant OS 2 vCPU 2GB RAM Standby VM 2 vCPU 2GB RAM :::

CPU overcommit is acceptable because virtual CPUs do not represent permanently reserved physical cores.

RAM requires more careful planning. Rather than immediately upgrading the hardware, I want to keep 16GB as an optimization target and observe the actual memory usage of each workload.

8. RAM Upgrade Strategy

The system currently uses:

• 2 x 8GB DDR4

I intentionally want to keep 16GB as the initial limit. The objective is to optimize workloads before solving performance issues by simply adding more hardware.

I will monitor:

• Consistently high RAM usage
• Heavy swap usage
• OOM events
• VM or container instability

If memory becomes a real bottleneck, the system can later be upgraded to 2 x 16GB DDR4.

9. Storage and Backup Planning

The current 256GB NVMe SSD will primarily contain:

• Proxmox VE
• VM and LXC system disks
• Application databases
• Configuration files
• Monitoring data

Large data should be stored separately.

:::code 256GB NVMe ├── Proxmox ├── VM / LXC disks ├── Databases └── Application data Additional Storage ├── Jellyfin media ├── Immich photo library ├── Immich video library └── Optional Frigate data External Backup ├── Important VM / LXC backups ├── Home Assistant backup └── Immich data and database backup :::

The current Proxmox host uses a single NVMe drive. ZFS provides useful filesystem features, but a single drive does not provide disk redundancy.

Important data, especially personal photos and videos stored in Immich, should therefore have a separate backup outside the Proxmox system disk.

10. Why Separate Every Service?

The main design principle of this Proxmox homelab is service separation.

• Frigate: CCTV detection
• Jellyfin: Media streaming
• Monitoring: Infrastructure visibility
• Immich: Personal photo and video management
• Home Assistant: Home automation
• Standby VM: Temporary administration and testing

This separation makes troubleshooting, backups, upgrades, resource limits, and security easier to manage.

Final Proxmox Homelab Architecture

:::code Proxmox VE 9.2 │ ├── LXC │ └── Docker │ └── Frigate │ Purpose: CCTV Detection │ ├── LXC │ └── Jellyfin │ Purpose: Media Streaming │ ├── LXC │ └── Monitoring │ ├── Uptime Kuma │ ├── VictoriaMetrics │ └── Grafana │ Purpose: Infrastructure Monitoring │ ├── Debian VM │ └── Docker │ └── Immich │ Purpose: Photo and Video Management │ ├── VM │ └── Home Assistant OS │ ├── Home Assistant │ └── Mosquitto MQTT │ Purpose: Home Automation │ └── Standby VM └── Windows or Linux Purpose: Temporary Administration and Testing :::

Conclusion

This Proxmox homelab is designed around practical home use cases, with each service having a clearly defined responsibility.

The Dell OptiPlex 3070 Micro with an Intel Core i3-9100T, 16GB RAM, and 256GB NVMe SSD should be enough to start.

Instead of immediately upgrading the hardware, the first goal is to optimize the workloads and monitor actual resource usage.

Additional storage and proper backups will become more important as services such as Immich grow.

The end goal is a small, organized, power-efficient, and maintainable Proxmox homelab where every service has a clear purpose.

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