643
Many months ago I started making the switch from using a lot of cloud services to backup and host files to a mostly self hosted setup. It hasn’t been entirely without issues, but I have been pleasantly surprised by how well a lot of these solutions work.
Most of my setup is based around a couple of Raspberry Pi single board computers running Dietpi Linux, a Debian Linux that has been optimized to run on very lightweight hardware. The name might imply that you need to run it on a Raspberry Pi, but it’s really just the same base OS as Ubuntu so it can run on whatever computer you have. A lot of ARM based computers, and pretty much 100% of X86 computers. If you have an old computer of any sort, you can probably run Dietpi on it.
Installed on one of them, I have Pihole, a dns based ad and pop up blocker. You point whatever device you have at that machine and it will preemptively block most ads before they ever have the chance to reach your computer or device. It really makes using the web much nicer. Even speeds up some slow sites.
On another I have Nextcloud for file storage and backup. Pretty much my own private Dropbox. It is possible to have Nextcloud set up for many users and use it to host and send files across the internet. But I ain’t having none of that. I’m using it as a NAS that automatically backs up the files that I want backed up. I know that I need offsite backup as well, and I have that mostly covered, or in the works.
Lastly, I have a Jellyfin server for movie and music rips. It’s nothing complicated, but it works.
I had most of this stuff up and running very quickly, but organizing and configuring it so that it works reliably and is expandable took some time. Now that it’s set up though, I really would never go back to paying for something like Dropbox. I like having easy access and control over the entire setup. Also I was born with the gene that makes me want to tinker with things, so really that’s probably what this whole thing was about anyway.
Now I may need to buy a rack… please, somebody stop me if I legitimately start shopping for a rack.