a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a great way to achieve server access from outside your home, but in a more private way. my last post was about server access through cloudflare tunnels, which is awesome, but sometimes your use case may not call for that. for example, a CF

its easy enough to get things going and access your services from inside your house, on your own LAN, using basic private IP ranges like 192.168.X.X or 10.X.X.X. once your OS is up and running and you begin installing some apps, usually the first

while servers may seem scary, they are really just purpose built desktops with slightly different hardware. as such, the case for building entry level home servers is much stronger than buying enterprise hardware for your first foray into the server world. i always advocate for first time users to build,

“what OS should i choose?” seems to be one of the top frequently asked questions. rightly so – this decision will shape how you interact with your server and what direction your home server journey takes. Hypervisors to get the terminology correct, what we are talking about is either a type-1

i knew over a year ago i wanted a server. i was doing things with my computer that were way harder than they should have been because i was going about it in the wrong way. i was good with computers, but mainly Windows, and i already knew linux was

the short answer to “how big should my hard drives be?” is “as big as you can afford.” while the longer answer is, “it depends,” the shorter answer really does stand the test of time well. File Systems the file system you use actually impacts what size drives you should

In the server world, we use RAID. RAID stands for “redundant array of independent disks” and is a fancy way of saying “I have a bunch of hard drives connected together.” The purpose for RAID is to safely store data. A long time ago, we used to use hardware RAID.

Storage is arguably the most important decision you will make regarding a server. The base function of many servers is as a networked attached storage (NAS) device, which is a fancy way of saying: a place to keep all your stuff. Think of it as a digital storage unit for

there is a constant pull for the desire to built this small, silent networked attached storage (NAS) or server that absolutely disappears in a closet or under a desk. while those are amazing, for people who have never had a server before or know they are eternal tinkerers, i would

to deploy a home server environment, before we consider even the basics of the hardware we are going to buy, we must first ask ourselves the question, “where am i going to put it?” this is what separates us from the animals. having done homelab environments with both rackmount equipment