I’m interested in exploring the world of self hosting, but most of the information that I find is incredibly detailed and specific, such as what type of CPU performs better, etc. What I’m really looking for is an extremely basic square 1 guide. I know basically nothing about networking, I don’t really know any coding, but it seems like there are a lot of tools out there that might make this possible even for a dummy like me.
Right now, my cloud computing is pretty much typical, I think. I use onedrive to sync my documents and old files. I need to be able to quickly access files on different devices, such as a powerpoint created on one device and presented on another. On my phone I use Android and my backups of downloads and photos and other data (messages, etc) are all on Google Drive /Google 1.
I’m willing to spend the time learning to an extent, but I’m not looking to become a network expert. I’m also willing to spend a little bit of money on hardware or a subscription service if necessary. Ideally I’d like to be out of this subscription service game, but the main goal is to be in charge of my own files. I have an old laptop running Linux to play around with and a fast and stable home internet connection.
Eventually, I would like to not only be syncing my files, photos, and documents in real time, but also I’d like to maybe try using it as an entertainment server to watch/listen to downloaded media on my home network.
Is there such a thing as a guide for a total beginner starting from zero? Is this worth attempting, or will I quickly find myself frustrated and in way over my head? Or, do I need to wait a little longer until more idiot-proof tools become available?
I’m not in IT and had no prior experience.
I bought a used Dell Optiplex for cheap and used installation guides provided on the websites of the services I wanted to install (pihole, jellyfin, home assistant etc)
This is by far the easiest method to get started. Learn by doing.
Make all your services LAN only to start; don’t open anything up to be accessed outside your home network until you know a bit more, as making it secure requires a bit more time and knowledge.
Hot tip: use chat gpt to help you. If something doesnt work, feed the error messages to it and it will explain why and give you the commands to fix them.
A: I found what looks like a pretty good guide here https://piped.video/watch?v=xBIowQ0WaR8
It covers setting up a virtual server on AWS, as well as Setting up a Linux server with Docker and FileCloud or Netxcloud. It discusses some of the pros and cons of each. The only coding involved here is some copying and pasting json files, which is pretty beginner friendly if you ask me.
What you you folks here think? Is this a reasonable guide? Do you see any red flags or major oversights that beginner should know?
Unfortunately for you OP, you’re going to have to become at least decent at networking. The good part is that it will happen naturally as you learn, break and re-do your homelab.
Incidentally, I’m interested in any guides you might have regarding CPU performance metrics and cache. If you can recollect where you got them from.
So, essentially you want a File server and a media server, yes?
I think the parts to something like this would be:
- DNS, so you don’t have to remember IP addresses. Most people use Pi-Hole/Adguard home, but the idea is the same.
- A platform to run your services. A lot of people run containers bare-metal, but a lot of people also run their containers on top of VMs using a hypervisor. Some people just run VMs. For a beginner, containers will be a little more of a learning curve compared to plain VMs but it will pay off very soon. I tend to suggest Podman since it’s binary compatible with Docker and I like it more philosophically.
- Some way to acquire media. This is where the payoff really starts showing up since you’re running about 10 containers or so already. Imagine running 10 VMs on restricted hardware. If you’re going to torrent, I’d suggest looking up
Sonarrand going from there. - Actual media and file servers. Since you like GUIs, try Jellyfin and (this is not a favourable recommendation but here we go) Nextcloud.
Have fun!
I have never used it but https://selfprivacy.org/ looks pretty interesting. The way it supposedly works is that their app sets up a VPS for you in a guided manner. They set up the services you want (i.e. Nextcloud and Bitwarden) and configure things like backups and HTTPS for you.
The technical foundations are sound (NixOS) and they’re funded in part by NLnet.
They Might be worth trying out if you want control over your data but don’t want the responsibility of setting up and maintaining your services while still ultimately being in control of everything.
Myrecommendations is probably to host a next cloud instance. Does all the standard ‘cloud stuff’. File, contact, calendar sync, plus a bunch if other stuff if you want to add it via plugins. If you’re patient, and a single use you can host it on basically anything. If you decide you want to add users or have a faster site, you can go down the route of sorting out faster hardware or better specs and suck.
That’s a recommendation that I’ve seen a couple of times, and it looks promising. However I haven’t found any guide that really explains how to do it step by step, or what factors I should consider, or even really what I need to be able to do it. Do you know if there is such a guide for someone who really isn’t a “computer guy?”
Honestly, if you want small and cheap get a raspberry pi to play around or rent a VM.
If you care about storage too you can get a Synology NAS (pricy) which is pretty newbie proof and comes out of the box with different and photo sync along with support for VMs or docker.
I’ve been meaning to write a guide like this but haven’t had a chance to complete it yet. In short, I’d recommend setting up an Ubuntu Server instance on some old hardware and using incus with ZFS to setup a separate container or VM for each service you want to run: https://linuxcontainers.org/incus/introduction/
This way, if something doesn’t work out, you can just delete the container or VM. It also makes it easy to make snapshots or backups before you make a change (e.g. perform an upgrade) so you can easily roll back.
You can even try incus online (see the above link) to get an idea of how it works.
Recommend doing a jellyfin server with an *arr stack! Prowlarr, radarr, sonarr, plus qbittorrent. Bonus if you can integrate i2p in there so you don’t have to rely on a VPN :)
there’s also Nextcloud AIO docker. I use it to sync my photos and escape Apple’s 5gb max free-tier backup
Maybe add some assorted services like an invidious instance, Searxng instance?
Welcome to the self hosting rabbit hole!
Recommend doing a jellyfin server with an *arr stack
That’s a great way to get a cease and desist letter from your ISP.
They’ll max send you a warning 😊 from experience.
