Primary professional project

Infrastructure
Lab

A hands-on infrastructure project focused on firewalling, networking, DNS, DHCP, Cisco switching, virtualization, documentation, troubleshooting, and future security monitoring.

Open Homelab Docs View pfSense Notes

Project Overview

This is the main career-facing project inside InfraSynth Labs.

Purpose

The infrastructure lab exists to build and document real technical experience. Instead of only describing networking and systems concepts, this project records actual deployment decisions, troubleshooting steps, hardware changes, and future improvements.

The current focus is building a stable network foundation with pfSense before moving into managed switching, virtualization, segmentation, monitoring, and public service isolation.

Primary Focus Networking Firewalling Systems Security

Current Status

pfSense Firewall Deployed
Static Public IP Online
Cloudflare Pages Online
Cisco 3750G Pending

Skills Demonstrated

This project is designed to show practical infrastructure skills through real work.

Networking

Network topology planning, gateway design, WAN/LAN separation, DNS, DHCP, routing concepts, and future VLAN segmentation.

Routing DHCP DNS VLANs

Firewalling

pfSense deployment, WAN setup, NAT, DNS Resolver, firewall policy planning, and future least-privilege segmentation.

pfSense NAT Rules

Troubleshooting

WAN gateway behavior, DHCP-delivered static IPs, interface mapping, ISP handoff behavior, and connectivity restoration.

Documenting WAN Gateway

Switching

Cisco Catalyst 3750G baseline planning, management access, SSH setup, future trunking, and VLAN preparation.

Pending Cisco 3750G

Virtualization

Proxmox is planned for future Linux servers, Docker services, monitoring, internal tools, and isolated lab workloads.

Planned Proxmox Linux

Documentation

Public-safe technical writeups, sanitized configuration notes, build logs, troubleshooting records, and project roadmaps.

Active GitHub Portfolio

Architecture

The current network is intentionally simple while the foundation is stabilized.

Current Topology

Internet
   │
Fiber ONT
   │
pfSense Firewall
   │
Lab Network
   │
Clients / Server Hardware

Foundation Services

Routing pfSense
DHCP Active
DNS Active
NAT Active

Planned Topology

Internet
   │
Fiber ONT
   │
pfSense Firewall
   │
Cisco Catalyst 3750G
   │
├── Admin Workstation
├── Proxmox Host
├── Lab Clients
├── Future Wi-Fi AP
└── Future Server / Services

Core Components

Each component is introduced in stages to keep the lab stable and easy to troubleshoot.

Component Role Status
pfSense Firewall Edge firewall, router, DHCP, DNS foundation, NAT Deployed
Fiber ONT ISP handoff for WAN connectivity Active
Cloudflare Pages Public hosting for InfraSynth Labs Online
Cloudflare DNS Public DNS management for the domain Active
Cisco Catalyst 3750G Planned core switch and future VLAN work Pending
Proxmox Host Future virtualization platform Planned
Monitoring Stack Future logs, uptime, performance, and visibility Planned

Milestones

The project roadmap is split into practical phases.

Phase 1 — Public Site Foundation

Build the InfraSynth Labs site, connect GitHub to Cloudflare Pages, and create a public project hub for documentation.

Phase 2 — pfSense Edge Firewall

Deploy pfSense as the primary firewall, establish LAN DHCP/DNS, confirm WAN connectivity, and document the firewall foundation.

Phase 3 — WAN Troubleshooting Documentation

Record the static-IP-through-DHCP behavior, gateway issue, interface checks, and restore process as a real troubleshooting writeup.

Phase 4 — Cisco Switching

Configure the Cisco Catalyst 3750G with hostname, management IP, local login, SSH, and a saved baseline configuration.

Phase 5 — Proxmox Virtualization

Install Proxmox, create the first Linux VM, add internal services, and prepare for future monitoring and Docker workloads.

Phase 6 — Segmentation & Security

Add VLANs, firewall rules, management separation, service isolation, and better visibility across the network.

Next Actions

WAN Log Write
Cisco Baseline Prepare
Switch Config Pending
Proxmox Plan Draft

Documentation

Technical writeups are separated from the project page so the site stays organized.

Homelab Overview

Current status, hardware, topology, network plan, security direction, and project roadmap.

Open homelab docs →

pfSense Edge Firewall

Deployment notes for WAN, LAN, DHCP, DNS, NAT, firewall policy, and future work.

Open pfSense docs →

WAN Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting log for ISP handoff behavior, DHCP static assignment, gateway status, and restore steps.

Open WAN log →

Cisco 3750G Baseline

Planned baseline configuration for switch management, SSH, hostname, local login, and VLAN preparation.

Open Cisco docs →

Proxmox Plan

Planned virtualization host documentation for Linux servers, Docker, monitoring, and internal services.

Open Proxmox docs →

Documentation Archive

Main index for technical notes, deployment records, troubleshooting logs, and project documentation.

Open docs archive →

Security Direction

Public documentation is useful, but sensitive details stay private.

Public-Safe Documentation

This project is public, so infrastructure details are sanitized before publishing. The goal is to show technical decision-making without exposing the live environment.

No Credentials No Public IPs No MAC Addresses No Serial Numbers No Private Keys

Future Security Work

VLANs Planned
Firewall Rules Planned
Monitoring Planned
Logging Planned