Building a live pixel-art map of my home lab

My home lab runs on a NAS in a corner of my room. It hosts this site, a school system and a few other projects. Most of the time, all you see is a box with a blinking light.

So I built a map of it.

The Systems page is a pixel-art data centre called NOVAFORTRESS DC1. Everything in it comes from what is really happening on the server. Nothing is recorded or faked.

Describe the image

What you'll see

One rack per project. Each Docker container is a server in that rack, and its lights show whether it's healthy and how busy it is.
A tape vault for backups. Each database has a cartridge. It stays bright after a tested backup, then fades, and turns amber if a backup is late.
A delivery truck for deploys. When I ship a new version, a truck backs up to the loading dock and a forklift takes the crate to the right rack.
Staff who only work on real events. I use AI coding agents, and each kind shows up as a technician: a researcher, a coder, a tester, a reviewer. They come in when they are actually working and take coffee breaks when they aren't.
A security guard on duty all night. NovaWarden sits at the lobby desk and does rounds.

Why

Mostly because it was fun. But it also made the home lab easier to explain. "Here are my containers" is a list. A building where a truck turns up every time I deploy is something people actually look at.

The characters come from JIK-A-4's Metro City, and the furniture and outside from LimeZu's Modern Office and Modern Exteriors. Both are credited on the page.

If you open it during the day in Malaysia, someone is probably walking around. At night it's just the guard and the racks.

What you'll see

One rack per project. Each Docker container is a server in that rack, and its lights show whether it's healthy and how busy it is.

A tape vault for backups. Each database has a cartridge. It stays bright after a tested backup, then fades, and turns amber if a backup is late.

A delivery truck for deploys. When I ship a new version, a truck backs up to the loading dock and a forklift takes the crate to the right rack.

Staff who only work on real events. I use AI coding agents, and each kind shows up as a technician: a researcher, a coder, a tester, a reviewer. They come in when they are actually working and take coffee breaks when they aren't.

A security guard on duty all night. NovaWarden sits at the lobby desk and does rounds.

Why

The characters come from JIK-A-4's Metro City, and the furniture and outside from LimeZu's Modern Office and Modern Exteriors. Both are credited on the page.

If you open it during the day in Malaysia, someone is probably walking around. At night it's just the guard and the racks.