Netwatch

Work in progress

Netwatch is the watchtower of my homelab rack. Named after the corporation that polices the Net in Cyberpunk 2077, it's a simple, low-power mini PC with one job: out-of-band management for every machine in the rack.

Why out-of-band?

When a machine locks up, loses its network configuration, or won't finish booting, the usual way in (SSH over the network) tends to go down with it. Out-of-band management gives each machine a second, independent path to its console that doesn't depend on the network being healthy. It's the same idea data centers rely on: when the network itself is the problem, you still need a way in.

The plan

• Low-power mini PC: a small, efficient box that's cheap to leave running around the clock, so it's always available when something else isn't.
• RS-232 serial adapters: a direct console connection from Netwatch to each machine in the rack, completely separate from the household network.

• Back to Homelab