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?

  • @MigratingtoLemmyEnglish
    3•10 months ago

    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:

    1. DNS, so you don’t have to remember IP addresses. Most people use Pi-Hole/Adguard home, but the idea is the same.
    2. 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.
    3. 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 Sonarr and going from there.
    4. 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!