An important part of building OnyxNet is learning when a technically interesting solution is more complicated than the problem requires.
Ginnungagap is a good example of that.
The original idea
I wanted to develop an offsite backup solution that could protect both my TrueNAS data and my Proxmox virtual machine and container backups.
My initial concept involved creating VLAN 700,
named Ginnungagap, with a proposed
10.0.10.0/31 point-to-point transit network.
The broader plan considered dedicated networking equipment at the remote location and an encrypted site-to-site connection.
It would have been an interesting networking project, but it came with additional hardware expenses and maintenance responsibilities.
Rethinking the requirements
The real requirement wasn’t to operate an additional remote network.
It was to establish secure connectivity between designated backup systems at two different locations.
That distinction changed how I evaluated the problem.
The selected approach
I decided to pursue Tailscale for the connectivity layer.
A dedicated backup NAS running TrueNAS SCALE could eventually connect to my existing homelab through Tailscale without requiring a separate remote router or managed switch.
The intended backup scope remains the same:
- TrueNAS dataset replication
- Proxmox VM and LXC backup protection
- Independent offsite recovery capability
The current status
The original VLAN 700 proposal was superseded before implementation.
The Tailscale-based architecture has been selected, but the offsite backup project is deferred due to budget constraints.
Nothing has been deployed under the Ginnungagap project yet.
What I learned
Engineering isn’t about maximizing the number of devices or technologies involved.
It’s about evaluating requirements, cost, security, reliability, and operational complexity, then making a defensible technical decision.
I preserved the original proposal in an Architecture Decision Record so the reasoning remains documented.
Related documentation: ADR-001: Ginnungagap Connectivity