Many people think that home labs have to be large and complicated relying on fancy servers and expensive equipment. However, after completing this Free Upskill Challenge (UC), we hope you’ll change your mind! Due to advances in consumer computer hardware and open-source applications, there has never been a better time. In 2026, you can build a home lab that provides legitimate, useful services for your everyday life without needing a full rack in your house!
In this UC, you’ll learn the basics of creating your own home lab and self-hosting your projects. We’ll discuss some of the most common uses for home labs and a breakdown of the technological advances that have made self-hosting better for everyone. Finally, we’ll discuss some steps to get started including tips and common pitfalls to avoid. We’ll also have numerous recommendations.
This Upskill Challenge is the first in a series that will explore the basics of Home Labs. Make sure to stay tuned for more challenges in the future, where you’ll learn about Proxmox, Docker, remote access, and more!
Price = FREE!
What’s an Upskill Challenge (UC)?
A UC is a CTF-style, bite-sized lesson from the JHT Team, our courseware developers as well as “friends” of JHT. They are meant to be short and to the point. UCs focus on a single tool or concept and are helpful in quickly providing useful skills that might be prerequisites for other types of educational content on the platform.
A UC should be 10 – 30 minutes of student time and have no VMs. There are quizzes to make sure that the content is understood.
Prerequisites for UC – Home Lab
UCs assume no knowledge at all! They’re meant to be completely self-contained, so all of the answers are in the lesson. No outside research is required.
