A cloud engineer built a home DNS server using a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W to gain visibility and control over network traffic. Frustrated by blindly trusting his ISP for DNS, he installed Pi-hole to block ads and trackers at the network level, providing immediate, tangible benefits across all devices.

The project evolved by adding Tailscale for secure remote access and Unbound as a recursive resolver, eliminating reliance on public DNS providers. This turned a simple hobby into a practical lesson in infrastructure, privacy, and security, all running on hardware costing under £25.

This setup demonstrates how constrained hardware like the Zero 2W forces efficient design, mirroring real-world engineering trade-offs. It provides a safe, low-stakes environment to practice concepts like observability and trust boundaries before applying them in production systems.