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My home-lab baseline is five Docker containers: Nginx Proxy Manager for service access, Uptime Kuma for availability checks, Scrutiny for drive health data, Portainer for Docker administration, and Duplicati for backups. They solve different recurring setup jobs; they are my preferred starting point, not a requirement for every homelab. This routine was described in an article dated Aug. 26, 2026.
Why these five containers make a useful baseline
A new homelab often needs more than the applications you set out to run. You also need a way to reach services, notice when one stops responding, see storage-health information, manage containers, and protect data. These five tools cover those separate tasks so I can move on to other services sooner.
The setup is a personal workflow, not a universal Docker stack. You can adopt all five, choose only the functions you need, or use different tools. Docker itself does not require Portainer or any of the other services listed here.
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| Container | Job in this setup | What it helps with |
|---|---|---|
| Nginx Proxy Manager | Service access | Configure proxy hosts, route domains or subdomains to services, manage SSL certificates, and apply access controls such as basic authentication. |
| Uptime Kuma | Availability checks | Check whether services respond and show their status on a dashboard. |
| Scrutiny | Drive visibility | Display supported drives’ SMART information and historical readings. |
| Portainer | Docker administration | View and manage containers, images, networks, and volumes through a web interface. |
| Duplicati | Backups | Schedule backups, select data and destinations, configure retention, and encrypt backup files. |
The descriptions here reflect the roles attributed to these tools in the Aug. 26, 2026 article describing this routine. They are not an independent check of current project features, releases, maintenance, security, or deployment requirements.
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Nginx Proxy Manager: route requests to services
Nginx Proxy Manager provides a web interface for configuring proxy hosts. In this setup, it routes a domain or subdomain to a service and handles SSL certificate management. The article also describes access controls such as basic authentication.
These are reported capabilities, not a security assessment. A proxy does not by itself make an exposed service safe: decide which services should be reachable, apply appropriate access controls, and verify your configuration before relying on it.
Uptime Kuma: check whether services respond
Uptime Kuma can check services over HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, ping, and DNS, with configurable check intervals and failure thresholds. It can connect to notification integrations and present results on an uptime dashboard.
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For a self-hosted service, the practical benefit is a way to notice a failed response without manually opening every application. A monitor only tells you what its configured check can observe; choose the check type and threshold to match the service and the alert you want.
Scrutiny: inspect SMART data and history
Scrutiny surfaces SMART data for supported hard drives and SSDs, including temperature, power-on hours, health status, and SMART attributes. Historical readings can help you see how reported values change over time.
This is visibility, not failure prevention or a guarantee that a drive will give warning before it fails. SMART support and the information available depend on the drive and setup, and a healthy-looking status is not a substitute for backups.
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Portainer: manage Docker from a web interface
Portainer is the convenience layer in this stack for viewing and managing containers, images, networks, and volumes. The article also describes using it to deploy or edit stacks from Docker Compose files and inspect logs.
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It can make routine administration easier to scan, but Docker does not require a graphical manager. If you already prefer working with Compose files and command-line tools, Portainer is optional.
Duplicati: schedule and encrypt backups
Duplicati handles scheduled backups. The described workflow lets you select data and a destination, configure retention, and encrypt backup files. Possible destinations include local folders, network storage, and cloud providers.
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The important decision is not just which backup job to schedule, but where the copies go and whether you can restore them. Choose a destination that fits your needs, then verify the backup and practice recovering data. The article describing this setup does not report a restore test or prescribe a storage size.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to choose what belongs in your own stack
- Start with the gap you actually have. If you need a web interface for proxy-host configuration, consider Nginx Proxy Manager; if you want response checks and alerts, consider Uptime Kuma.
- Match storage monitoring to your hardware. Scrutiny is useful only to the extent that your drives and setup expose supported SMART information. Treat it as an added signal, not a backup plan.
- Decide whether a management interface helps you. Portainer suits a preference for a visual overview; it is not mandatory if your existing Compose and command-line workflow works well.
- Make recovery part of backup setup. With Duplicati, select the data, destination, schedule, retention, and encryption settings deliberately, then confirm that the resulting backup can be restored.
Because the source article is an excerpt rather than independently verified project documentation, check each project’s official documentation for current releases, maintenance status, security guidance, and deployment requirements before installing it. No version-specific instructions are established here.
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