Thanks Stephen, On 2025-04-21 06:39, Stephen Partington via PLUG-discuss wrote: > I have a pair of servers running, 1 is an older Dell PowerEdge 1U > single Xeon that is my firewall running Opnsense (harder than I > expected to use but liking it) , and the other is a more robust server > I built with an AMD x5900 and 128 GB of RAM. IT also has a lot of > storage, and its job is to run Proxmox. On it has a bout 7 VM's > running doing various things, from NExtCloud, Open Media Vault, and my > one Windows server for the 3 things I cannot run in Linux. I also have > a load balancer and a few other things running. I also do a ton of > random things that ill spin up, try out, and then drop as a failure or > not what i was looking for. > > If you have a domain name and use CloudFlare, there are scripts that > will automatically update CloudFlare DNS routes when they detect a > change. There are scripts for a bunch of services, you just have to go > looking. > I have a static IP with the ability to get more. I assume CloudFlare DNS would be a solution for most. > On Sun, Apr 20, 2025 at 8:06 PM David Schwartz via PLUG-discuss > wrote: > >> I had a little Debian-based box installed at a co-lo locally for 7 >> years that I ran myself. After the HDD died the 3rd time, I decided >> to pull the plug on it. >> >> That was back around 1995-2002 time-frame. >> >> It had a Mini-ITX mobo with a 600 MHz x86 clone chip, maybe 256MB of >> RAM, and a 20 GB HDD in it. The Ethernet port was 10Mbps. It took a >> lot of care and feeding. >> >> I think a Rasperry Pi Pico would have the same performace that that >> little box had. :) >> >> I’ve thought about setting up a local server at home, but mainly >> as a local file server. I have a Dropbox Plus account that gives me >> 2TB of storage, but I’m not about to mirror that on all of my >> machines. It would be nice to have it mirrored to a local file store >> instead that had a driver that let you treat it as a local drive (as >> if it was plugged into a USB port). >> >> I think I have 8 computers attached to my LAN at home right now: 3 >> Mac Minis, a little Windows box that’s like a Mac Mini (N150 CPU), >> two iPads, and a MacBook Pro. The LAN is running at 1GB. >> >> My internet here is from Cox; it’s Fiber and it goes 1GB both up >> and down, but only if you connect via ethernet; the WiFi is about >> 600 megs. >> >> Cox won’t give me a static IP. Fiber to the home is a different >> division than their Business group and they said they cannot run a >> fiber line to the property for some reason. (It’s a big apartment >> complex and I guess Cox Residential is their exclusive internet & >> cable provider.) >> >> So I’ve looked around to see what options I might have for setting >> up a home file server that could also run a dynamic DNS for external >> access. I’ve got a couple of RPi 4’s that I could use, or maybe >> one of my Mac Minis. >> >> The problem I ran into is that most of the info I found was for >> hosting video streaming. Basic file hosting, like for mirroring >> Dropbox, doesn’t seem to be of much interest. I could shut off >> Dropbox if I had a decent file server, but there doesn’t seem to >> be much demand for it. Maybe there is, but I haven’t found much >> activity there. >> >> Another area I found that might be of interest to you is showing >> people how to set up a server that can host podcasts. Podcasting is >> growing like crazy, and the size of the MP3 files is smaller than a >> lot of HD photos, let alone videos. >> >> I don’t know if there’s an open source Podcasting service that >> does hosting, but it needs to have an RSS feed, which isn’t very >> complicated. I think there’s a market for a simple Podcast hosting >> device people could set up in their home that has a good set of >> features on it. Personally, I’d like to see something like YouTube >> but for audio podcasts. All of the big podcast platforms don’t >> offer much. If you want comments and interactions between your >> listeners, you need to set that up separately, whereas YT has all of >> that built-in — which is probably why so many podcasts are hosted >> there using a static page as the video. Just beware of the ads. >> It’s kind of strange to me. >> >> -David Schwartz >> >>> On Apr 20, 2025, at 1:11 PM, techlists@phpcoderusa.com wrote: >>> >>> Thanks for your feedback David!! >>> >>> Here is where I am coming from. I think there are 3 types of >> people. System Admin, business folks, and hobbyists. I used to >> have a friend who is a sys admin and a programmer. He does all his >> own hosting. There is a person on the list that has referred to his >> home lab a few times. I suspect most have some level of a home lab. >>> >>> I was doing some research and found there is demand for learning >> how to build and maintain a web server out of ones home/home >> office/home lab. >>> >>> My commercial advice is don't do it. Much cheaper to rent shared >> hosting or a VPS. That is my advice to a business owners. >>> >>> Having said that I was able to configure an old laptop as a web >> server + Bind+Postfix+Dovecot+let's Encrypt... and possible some >> other packages. >>> >>> I did it to learn and in the end I liked the fact that I could do >> so. As you know I am a PHP dev. I made mention at the time that I >> had bragging rights. Was a big accomplishment for me. I assume >> being able to build a full stack web server pushes me in the realm >> of being a full-stack developer. >>> >>> The motivation for this post was based on some research I >> performed that showed there is a fair amount of interest in leaning >> how to build and maintain a web server out of ones home/home >> office/home lab. >>> >>> I posted hoping for feedback on what others might know of the >> demand. >>> >>> I learned a lot the first go around and would like to learn more. >> And as you know I have a YouTube channel and blog. I would like to >> share my experience with others. >>> >>> Keith >>> >>> >>> >>> On 2025-04-19 21:47, David Schwartz via PLUG-discuss wrote: >>>> I guess this all depends on if this is just a hobby for you or >> something you want to make money from. >>>> Here’s my opinion; it’s not exactly what you’re wanting to >> hear, but it’s a legitimate option… I may have mentioned it >> before. >>>> Take a look at Latenode. It’s an automation service, >> functionally similar to Zapier, Make, Pabbly, and others, but I >> think its a lot more affordable. >>>> Most web apps these days require logic to be hidden in a back-end >> service to keep people from accessing your keys. As a result, the >> majority of things the back-ends do is forwarding requests on to >> other services, including DBs, AIs, and other things. >>>> I really do not want to deal with my own server ANYWHERE — at >> home or anywhere else in the world, especially if I can build little >> modular services accessible as webhooks on an automation platform. >> The servers they run on are fast, scalable, and made for heavy-duty >> use. (Mostly cloud-based, I’m guessing.) >>>> I can’t speak to the security issues, but nothing I’m doing >> is worse than keeping my backend “secret keys” out of reach from >> the front-end users. (If you don’t, they end up in your browser in >> clear-text and they can be scraped without much trouble.) >>>> If you’re really that paranoid and worried about stuff that it >> makes sense to become an expert on all of those server-side tools on >> a server you keep hidden in your home or office, then knock yourself >> out. I don’t care; I don’t want to care, or even keep up with >> the changes they’re constantly undergoing. I want to be able to >> quickly set up a proxy to sit between my front-end and some other >> service that gets me what I want without having to manage anything >> you mentioned. >>>> If you need some custom programming, then Latenode allows you to >> use javascript in their nodes. Pickaxe works with Python, and it can >> even help you write the code. >>>> (Pickaxe is an interesting 2-faced thing, part of which is an >> app-builder and part of which is has some basic logic and it can >> trigger webhooks to other back-end services, including automation >> services. They only mention Zapier and Make, but their interface is >> not specific to either one except in name only. It works fine with >> Latenode, Pabbly, and others. I think something called Lemonade is >> somewhat competitive with Pickaxe.) >>>> I know, folks on this list are going to complain that these >> services are not free except for trivial purposes to get familiar >> with them. But I value my time far more and I don’t mind paying a >> couple hundred bucks a month to have SEVERAL high-quality services >> managed for me so I don’t have to deal with anything to keep them >> running. I did that for a while on a Windows VPS (which I had to use >> b/c the code I needed only targets Windows) and problems were >> constantly coming up; unfortunately, the VPS host didn’t provide >> an support. >>>> I bought a small Windows box to run at home to replace the VPS, >> but I decided I can do pretty much anything I need on Latenode. So >> it’s just sitting there. >>>> I learned how to admin Unix boxes back in the 80’s, and it has >> always been one of my least favorite things to do. I’m very happy >> to pay people the cost of one restaurant dinner per month to keep my >> services working. But my goal is to use these services to make >> money, at which point the costs are going to be minscule compared to >> the potential revenues. >>>> If it’s not a hobby, then you need to decide if you want to >> work ON your business or IN your business. Running your own server >> means it’s all on you. Outsourcing it lets you work ON your >> business. >>>> TBH, I’m getting away from programming and all of this admin >> crap. It’s about frigging time we’re seeing things start to bury >> this stuff behind walls that are being run by AI services. Dealing >> with AI prompts and automation tools is the future, IMHO. Working >> with stuff that’s still clearly recognizable today from what it >> looked like in the 80’s is hardly “progress”. I’ve had >> people ask me over time, “Why don’t you get certified to work on >> Cisco hardware?” I used to write code for devices like that back >> in the 80’s, and it looks like it HAS NOT CHANGED AT ALL, just >> like talking to modems and Epson printer escape codes. >>>> This is 2025; I’ve been there, done that, and AI is the future. >> Prompts are actually structured a lot like imperative programming >> code but they use normal language to explain things. Unfortunately, >> if you don’t know the basics of imperative programming, you’re >> going to miss a lot of details and mess up the structure. And if you >> aren’t an SME in the domain you’re trying to get AI to do for >> you, you’re screwed. >>>> Just my thoughts. >>>> -David Schwartz >>>>> On Apr 19, 2025, at 6:10 PM, Keith Smith via PLUG-discuss >> wrote: >>>>> Hi, >>>>> I did some research and it appears there is a lot of demand for >> content that covers how to create a web server out of home/home >> office/home lab. >>>>> I assume this means Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP + Bind9, Postfix, >> Dovecot, some form of webmail, Let Encrypt, and possibly other >> servers/software. >>>>> What does the list think on this subject? >>>>> Keith >>>>> --------------------------------------------------- >>>>> PLUG-discuss mailing list: PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org >>>>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >>>>> https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >>>> --------------------------------------------------- >>>> PLUG-discuss mailing list: PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org >>>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >>>> https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >> >> --------------------------------------------------- >> PLUG-discuss mailing list: PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >> https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > > -- > A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from > rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button. > > Stephen > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list: PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list: PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss