I configured Home Assistant in my home network to control my IoT devices, and in some cases, remove the cloud element from them to run them locally, saving both bandwidth and increasing the overall security of the network. Once I got started, I linked my Plex Media Server to it so I could both monitor and control the content being played and also link both my and my fiancée's phones to automate scripts and have lights turn on and off automatically and to turn on/off our alarm when entering and exiting our home. I later included features like a joint shopping list so we can both add items so that whoever goes to the supermarket can just look at the list and we don't have to update each other with every item we need to pick up. The functions associated with our mobile phones (sensors, battery indicators, location) have become a useful tool when preparing meals for the right time as we can see their location on the way home from work. Update (27/04/2025) I have moved my Home Assistant to my Mini-PC after installing ProxMox. I have given it 1 CPU core of my Intel N100, 4 GB of RAM and 32GB of storage (emulated as an SSD) and had to install it via a qcow2 file, (which was its own headache).