I think of myself as technically inclined. I have installed Linux multiple times and have basic command line knowledge, and I’ve programmed in many languages, with the most experience making a static website game using HTML/CSS/JS.

Additionally, I own the superspruce.org domain (my registrar is Dynadot), but I don’t really know how to wield the power of owning a domain. I also have some spare computers to be used for hosting, a 2009 laptop running Lubuntu and a 3900X+32GB RAM desktop other running KDE Neon, but I’m also open to experimenting with cloud hosting too (I know, sacrilege here).

However, I don’t know much about the TCP/IP protocol or other networking protocols. I’m happy to learn, but the curve would need to start gently.

I would want to try hosting my websites, and also a personal non-federated Lemmy instance to serve as a archivable forum for my games. Even if it’s not very useful, it’s great experience.

  • breadsmasher@lemmy.worldEnglish
    10·
    5 months ago

    Some things, or points, to consider.

    1. Do you want whatever you’re hosting to be internet accessible? Or local network only? As it being able to access from anywhere
    2. If its something you want to be able to use full time, youll eventually want a dedicated machine. I have an *arr stack etc, which I share with a private group. Eventually downtime was an actual consideration and interrupted my normal usage of my main machine. I picked up a secondhand elitedesk mini Pc for £150 and its doing really well.
    3. Potentially make use of tools like Zerotier for private networking (others hopefully will chime in with alternatives, but I have had good success with zerotier.
    4. How do you want to host it, and are you willing to learn? Get a bit of knowledge on docker or podman but this is hardmode as most examples will be docker specific. Using containers will make things simpler. The most complicated part IMO is networking but even then its more docker networking stuff than general TCP/IP - (like you mentioned in your post)
    5. OS - you mentioned using Linux? I personally use Ubuntu just out of defaulting to what i’ve previously used. But Im currently using Manjaro on my non host PC, which I am liking
    6. Keep things secure - the more you expose to the internet, the more risk. Keep exposure as small as possible, use letsencrypt or alternatives for anything you want to access over the internet etc

    good luck have fun!

    • SuperSpruce@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
      2·
      5 months ago
      1. I want it to be internet accessible. A friend taught me how to use nginx for the local network, although I’ve forgotten that now.
      2. My previously mentioned computers are computers I don’t use that much, especially the old laptop. My main computer is a 2021 ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition. I won’t be hosting from that.
      3. Private networking is just hosting over a LAN, right?
      4. Does Docker work well on old hardware and is Docker easy to learn?
      5. I have the most knowledge on Ubuntu based distros. I don’t think Manjaro, a bleeding edge rolling distro, is good for hosting.
      6. How do I use let’s encrypt or something to boost my security?