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October 2026: Scaling Your Homelab to Kubernetes and Defense Against the Dark Arts

/ roanokeinfosec

October is officially here! With crisp fall air, leaves turning, and cybersecurity awareness month in full swing, it is the perfect time to level up your infrastructure and build something cool.

This month, we are diving deep into homelab architecture, automation, and modern orchestrators. Whether you are running a single mini-PC under your desk or a full server rack in the basement, this session will show you how to modernize your setup with enterprise-grade tooling.

The Details

  • Speaker: Aaron McPhall
  • Topic: The Modern Homelab: Scaling to Kubernetes Orchestration
  • Date: Thursday, October 8th
  • Time: 6:00 PM
  • Location: Virginia Western Community College (VWCC)

About the Talk

The Modern Homelab: Scaling to Kubernetes Orchestration

Whether you are running a single multi-purpose computer, managing multiple machines, or experimenting with hypervisors and containers, you can evolve your setup into a modern, production-grade platform. In this presentation, you will discover how to transition across every stage of the homelab maturity model by deploying a secure Kubernetes cluster built on modest, budget-friendly hardware using repurposed PCs.

Aaron will share how to build an immutable operating system foundation with Talos Linux and streamline system management through automated GitOps workflows using Gitea and ArgoCD. The session details real-world mitigations for infrastructure and security challenges, including strategies for handling resource constraints, automating update cycles, and safely executing workflows with robust telemetry and controls. Regardless of where you currently stand in your homelab journey, you will gain practical architecture patterns and actionable inspiration to take your infrastructure to the next level.

Meeting Details:

We will be meeting at Virginia Western Community College in the Hall Family Business/Science Building. Take the stairs to the left and go to the third floor and go to the CyberSecurity lab in room M302.

Meeting info:
Virginia Western Community College
Business/Science Building, Room M302
October 8th, 2026 @ 6PM
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ToJyoaMJ5BUy417QA

Upcoming Event: Defense Against the Dark Arts (Oct 29th)

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for another major event happening later this month! Defense Against the Dark Arts takes place on October 29th at VWCC.

This panel and live-demo event brings together local practitioners to break down modern cyber attack techniques and practical defenses for enterprise systems.

Bring a friend, grab a seat, and join us for an evening of homelab talk and community networking.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 8th at 6:00 PM at VWCC. See you all there!