Technical guides for running local AI models, managing Docker containers, configuring TrueNAS storage, and automating infrastructure — all on your own hardware.
zaGeneral is a technical knowledge hub for developers and sysadmins who build and manage self-hosted infrastructure. You will find practical guides for local AI deployment, Docker container orchestration, TrueNAS storage management, OpenClaw automation, and OBS Studio production workflows.
Every guide is tested in real homelab environments. The focus is on practical outcomes — working configurations you can deploy today.
In-depth documentation and implementation guides for self-hosted infrastructure
Browser-based tools that respect your privacy. Compress images, convert files, and more — all in your browser with no server uploads.
Deploy and run LLMs locally with Ollama, vLLM, and OpenWebUI. Practical guides for inference, fine-tuning, and GPU acceleration on your own hardware.
Self-hosted AI agent for system automation and security. Configure autonomous agents that execute real actions across your infrastructure.
Enterprise storage with ZFS. Configure pools, snapshots, replication, and backups for reliable data management in homelab and production.
Container orchestration for self-hosted services. Build, deploy, and manage containerized applications with Docker Compose and Swarm.
Professional streaming and recording workflows. Configure scenes, encoding, plugins, and automation for live production and content creation.
Practical outcomes from implementing the systems documented here
Complete self-hosted environment: Proxmox virtualization, TrueNAS storage, Docker containers, and network segmentation.
Run LLMs locally with Ollama and vLLM. Fine-tune models, build RAG pipelines, and deploy inference services on your hardware.
Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, and alerting systems that run independently.
Replace cloud dependencies with self-hosted alternatives: DNS, backups, authentication, and communication.
Free browser-based image tools — no uploads, no servers, 100% private
Compress any image to an exact target file size in KB. Perfect for meeting upload limits on forums and websites.
Convert PNG images to WebP format with customizable quality. Reduce file sizes by up to 80% for faster websites.
Convert JPEG images to WebP format instantly. Achieve 25–35% better compression than JPEG at the same quality.
Technical deep dives and tutorials
Learn the most common Nginx reverse proxy mistakes that cause broken websites, WebSocket failures, redirect loops, and deployment issues. Includes real-world fixes for Next.js, Docker, OpenClaw, and self-hosted applications.
A real-world benchmark comparison of LM Studio, Ollama, and OpenClaw across architecture, context behavior, memory usage, latency, orchestration, and production deployment scenarios for serious local AI systems in 2026.
Build a real-time local AI monitoring dashboard with OpenClaw using JSONL session parsing, Server-Sent Events, gateway status telemetry, and live session streaming. Learn how costica-dashv6 transforms raw local AI logs into a production-grade observability system.
Professional streaming, recording, and media workflows integrated with your technical setup.
OBS Studio provides professional-grade streaming and recording. Configure scenes, sources, transitions, and streaming service integration for live broadcasts and content creation.
Extend OBS functionality with community plugins for alerts, overlays, automation, and integration with other services and platforms.
OBS integrates with homelab environments: NDI for network video, virtual cameras for video conferencing, browser sources for dynamic content, and API control for automation. Combine streaming with other systems for professional media production workflows.
Control over your infrastructure is a strategic decision, not just a technical one.
You decide when to update, how to configure, and what data stays where. No vendor lock-in, no unexpected API changes, no rate limits. Your infrastructure responds to your requirements.
Your data never leaves your network. AI models run locally, files stay on your storage, and authentication happens on your servers. No third-party data exposure.
Local systems have zero network latency. Storage runs at hardware speed. No shared resources, no noisy neighbors, no geographical distance between you and your data.
You decide what runs locally and what uses cloud services. Sensitive data stays local, heavy compute can use cloud when needed. No vendor lock-in, no artificial limitations.
Practical guides, tested configurations, and real-world implementations. Everything documented here runs on actual homelab hardware.