Chapter 01: Vision, Scope, and Success Criteria

Word target: 2,500
Primary deliverable: Homelab charter and measurable outcomes
Key diagrams: Mission pyramid, constraints map

Learning Goals

  • Define scope boundaries for a learning lab versus production-like workloads.
  • Convert goals into measurable KPIs (availability, recovery time, cost, time-to-deploy).
  • Create a risk register for hardware failure, misconfiguration, and internet dependency.

MVP Lab Worksheet

  • Objective: Create a one-page homelab charter.
  • Starting state: Existing Proxmox laptop and Azure Ubuntu VPS.
  • Steps:
    1. List top 5 services you want to run.
    2. Set SLO-lite target for each service.
    3. Define acceptable monthly operating cost.
  • Evidence: Saved charter doc and KPI table.
  • Exit criteria: Charter reviewed and versioned in repo.
  • Rollback: N/A (documentation-only).

Advanced Lab Worksheet

  • Objective: Build a 12-month capability roadmap.
  • Starting state: MVP charter complete.
  • Steps:
    1. Define quarterly milestones.
    2. Add risk score and mitigation for each milestone.
    3. Add “kill criteria” for initiatives that add complexity without value.
  • Evidence: Roadmap + risk matrix.
  • Exit criteria: Signed ADR for roadmap priorities.
  • Rollback: Revert roadmap to previous version tag.
Author Prompt

Add a short personal story: why this homelab exists and what failure taught you most.