Tim Harrison

Linux Servers.

I self host several services on a few Linux servers. what do I mean by self host? and what do I mean by Linux?.. Well I have mini computers in my Home that run an operating system called Linux. Now Linux as an operating system is a loose term, as Linux is technically a Kernel, that combined with other software, creates an operating system. More about Linux can be learned from a simple search engine query or Wikipedia does a reasonable job explaining here.

Now back to the servers! I host services on these Linux servers and over the years I've hosted all manner of different software, but to put it simply, I exclusively stick to 3 main services.

Nextcloud is what I use for storing and syncing all my important files/photos etc, like a cloud service. However also amongst it's repertoire, I use

Nextcloud is really a rather versatile beast, I do host other smaller services on this machine as well but all to support the main Nextcloud service. For example I host a turn server to allow the Talk application to find and "call" other talk devices outside of my local network.

Next up I have Home Assistant, this takes care of all my smart home devices and automation's. I have smart devices like light switches, power sockets, door and window sensors, presence sensors, thermostats, pet cameras and a local voice assistant called Assist. Now all these devices are pretty good on there own, I can access all of them via the Home Assistant app on my phone, but this pretty much makes it a "remote control".

Automation's are what really bring out the power of home assistant, allowing me to set timers to turn on and off devices, or turn off devices/lights when I leave home.

I intend to Work more on Home Assistant over the next year or so to really get the best from it and utilise the power of Home automation.

Finally I have Kodi on a little Raspberry Pi 5 This is my media server, that plays all my Movies, Tv shows and a Major League Baseball Subscription in one simple interface.

All of this is local, in my Home network, only accessible outside of this network via a Self hosted Wireguard VPN. This makes it really secure and accessible by only those I permit.

Do you fancy self hosting? or do you self host already?

If you have any questions or tips about/for my setup then please drop me a message on Fosstodon, I would interested to hear what others think about self hosting.

Looking for comments? There are no comments. It's not that I don't care what you think, it's just that I don't want to manage a comments section.

If you want to comment mention this post on Fosstodon and I will reply there.