After months of planning and building, I finally have a fully self-hosted setup that replaced almost everything I was paying for or trusting to big tech. Put together a video walking through the whole build if anyone's interested.

https://preview.redd.it/87mqpt1utfng1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=943578451b7da34e1ef993b177895a85de9bde67

What I replaced:

• Google Photos → Immich (with Google Coral TPU for face/object recognition)
• Google Drive / OneDrive → Nextcloud (file sync across all devices)
• Ring / Nest cameras → Frigate NVR (Coral AI detection + Home Assistant integration)
• Various streaming → Plex (with full *arr stack)
• Commercial router → pfSense (firewall, DNS, DHCP, WireGuard VPN, ntopng monitoring)
• LastPass → Vaultwarden
• DNS ad blocking → Pfblocker

https://preview.redd.it/wrdq62uztfng1.png?width=2605&format=png&auto=webp&s=6646b0aa7ef45cbbfe99dd104d91ce6bfa581fef

Hardware:

• 3x Lenovo M720q + 1x M920q (Proxmox cluster + pfSense)
• Terramaster D5-310 DAS with 42TB raw storage
• Google Coral USB TPU
• All mounted in a 3D printed KWS Rack V2 (12U, 10-inch)
• Total: $3,737 CAD

https://preview.redd.it/eq5eijv8ufng1.png?width=3011&format=png&auto=webp&s=05211a47456506a577ab4ceac9cdbf42b0026d1e

The honest take:
Setup time is real. This isn't a weekend project — it took weeks of configuring, breaking, and fixing. But now everything runs 24/7, I own my data, and the monthly cost is basically just electricity (~$10-15/month).

The biggest win? Immich. Having Google Photos-level search (face recognition, location, object detection) on hardware I own, with zero cloud dependency — that alone justified the build.

Video (full build walkthrough): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cET4sfqdlE&t

I'm a plumber by trade who fell into self-hosting, so if I can set this up, anyone can. Happy to answer questions.