SYSADMIN_ARCHIVES
[Edge Node]━━━━━━[2.5GbE]━━━━━━[Storage]
     ┃                             ┃
[Internet]                      [Clients]
ip route add default
iptables -t nat -A
docker network create
tailscale up --accept-routes
ZimaBoard 2
Dual 2.5GbE
Intel N100
16GB DDR4
docker-compose up -d
kubectl apply -f
systemctl enable
nginx -t && nginx -s reload
┌─────┐   ┌─────┐
│ SRC │──→│ DST │
└─────┘   └─────┘
Edge Layer
├── VPN Gateway
├── Media Processing
└── Cache/Buffer

My Next Big Upgrade: Hybrid Edge + Storage Setup

Sep 2025
6 min read
◇ Planned

STATUS: PLANNED

Written in September 2025 and still on the roadmap rather than in the rack — everything described below currently runs on the single TrueNAS host. What moved it down the queue was measurement rather than enthusiasm: the real constraint on that machine turned out to be its single 2.5 GbE link, not the workloads I wanted to offload. A second box would not have fixed a network bottleneck, so 10 GbE and a managed switch went ahead of it. The design below still holds; it is waiting on the upgrade that actually unblocks it.

ZimaBoardEdge ComputingNetwork ArchitectureHomelabInfrastructure

I've already got a pretty healthy TrueNAS SCALE system humming along, but like every homelabber, I can't help but ask: what's next?

The idea that's been bouncing around my head lately is a hybrid setup — basically letting a smaller "edge box" handle the messy, noisy work while my TrueNAS server sticks to what it does best: keeping data safe, fast, and organised.

The Edge Node Dream (ZimaBoard 2)

I've got my eye on a compact ZimaBoard 2 with dual 2.5 GbE ports. Think of it as a front door to my homelab, acting as both a bouncer and a buffer.

Here's what I imagine it running:

Tailscale VPN → secure remote access without opening router ports.
Cloudflare Tunnel → publish services like dashboards and request portals to the web with automatic HTTPS.
Blu-ray Ripping Pipeline → instead of hammering my ZFS pool with random writes, the ZimaBoard would chew through discs on its local SSD first. When the rip is polished and ready, it'll push the final file across a private 2.5 GbE link straight into TrueNAS.

The appeal? My storage server won't get bogged down while I'm processing a stack of Blu-rays, and my family still gets uninterrupted Plex streams and photo syncs.

TrueNAS: Staying the Brains of the Operation

TrueNAS itself won't get demoted — it's still the star of the show. The plan is for it to keep running:

ZFS Pool "Centauri"

~72 TB usable (with about 15 TB free right now)

Plex

Streaming my ripped library

Nextcloud

Our personal Google Drive replacement for docs and files

Immich

The family photo vault, complete with automatic uploads and galleries

Tautulli + friends

Analytics and monitoring, because I'm curious who's watching what

The idea is to let TrueNAS focus on storing and serving media while the ZimaBoard handles all the prep work.

The Network Layout

The way I picture it:

Main LAN handles the everyday stuff — internet, devices, Plex clients.

Private 2.5 GbE P2P link between the ZimaBoard and TrueNAS handles file transfers.

Tailscale + Cloudflare keep remote access secure and user-friendly, even if the storage box reboots.

Basically, the edge node becomes the always-on "front door," while TrueNAS is the rock-solid "vault."

Why Bother?

So why complicate things with an extra box? A few reasons:

Less I/O stress

Blu-ray rips happen on the ZimaBoard SSD, not directly on ZFS.

Crash isolation

If something blows up on the edge, TrueNAS stays clean.

Performance

That private 2.5 GbE pipe should move files at ~300 MB/s.

Flexibility

Edge box can run extra toys like monitoring dashboards or DNS filtering without cluttering the storage stack.

Sure, it adds a bit of cost and config overhead, but for me, that's part of the fun.

Future Roadmap

This setup has plenty of room to grow. Some ideas on my list:

Upgrade the P2P link to 5 GbE or 10 GbE.

Spin up multiple edge nodes (e.g. one for ripping, one for networking).

Offload certain apps from TrueNAS into a clustered setup.

Sync subsets of media/photos to the cloud for redundancy.

Closing Thoughts

Right now, this is just a plan — but it's the kind of plan that scratches the homelab itch. I like the idea of decoupling heavy ingest work (like Blu-ray ripping) from the storage backend.

In theory, I'll end up with a system that's faster, safer, and easier to manage. And if nothing else, it'll give me another excuse to wrestle with Docker configs at 2 a.m.

Because in homelabs, the journey is half the fun.