What Are Some Must Have Open Source Home Servers

For me it’s:

  • Lamp stack (running a blog, and table tennis scoring app/service, 2FA app etc).
  • Samba - an oldie, but a goodie. Still using this instead of other media center options.
  • OpenVPN - works well, can access home network from anywhere.
  • Gitolite3 - for my private repositories.

I use a pi 4 for most of my things. I think the only bottle neck would be jellyfin and transcoding video. I run jellyfin on my desktop in a container because it has a good gpu for transcoding. Maybe next week during holiday break I’ll spin up a jellyfin instance on the pi and report back.

Why not try out Wireguard instead? It should be easier to set up.

@dasgeek on my server I’m running OpenMediaVault, on which I’ll be going to use Portainer to set up services like Nextcloud, Pi-Hole, and probably something like Plex/Jellyfin for my media streaming. And I’ll be running Kodi on a machine at my TV to stream that content to :sunglasses:

OPNsense deployed, hmm, what to do for the next project…

I don’t have much experience with servers other than a LAMP stack when I was teaching myself web development. Virtualising or containerising them seems like an easier way to start - and of course I’d trust Debian 10 for this as it’s my daily driver anyway :slight_smile:

Kubernetes,

Even a single host Kubernetes cluster knocks the socks off of Vmware, Proxmox, Ovirt, and even single node Podman, Its 100% worth looking into

Gonna add NEMS Linux ( Nagious Enterprise Monitoring Server ), but only because I like to monitor my internal network.

Oh, and it runs in Docker, as a VM, or on a Rasberry PI, which is how I deployed it.

I’m going to suggest Wireguard as a means to avoid the use of port forwarding (which ISP’s can remotely undo, with no warning, when they remotely upgrade your router). Additionally, servers hosted from home can be remotely accessed by hostnames which are not Dynamic DNS hostnames:

How many here use their ISP’s modem/router?

I own my own cable modem and WiFi router.

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I have a mandatory modem (provided by my isp), but i use my own router.

Same here, in our country I’m not sure you can use your own modem :man_shrugging:t2:

I’m not aware of even one person in my circle of family and friends who uses their own router any longer, instead of the one the ISP mandates/provides by default.

Personally, do I have my own router set aside (which I have admin rights on, not the ISP, AFAIK), for using it at the right time? Yes!!

I use my own cable modem and WiFi router. My ISP charges a monthly charge something near $10 if you use or “rent” their modem and WiFi router. When you have the same ISP for 7 years that can add up to a lot of savings by running your own.

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I would consider setting up one of these.

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You have to use the ISPs modem (or one of similar bad security) even if you’re just placing it in bridge mode right?

Excluding cases like swapping it for a “slightly” more secure ASUS router, I mean for using OpenWRT or similar which I don’t think come with modem support so best-case you bridge the ISP modem to your OpenWRT’s uplink port. Been a while since I studied the options.

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Same here. I would love to see some show delve into the currently available do-it-yourself Open Source friendly routers (where you have total control, like with OpenWRT, pfsense, etc), where you get at least some gigabit ethernet ports for your LAN, and good wifi antennas, akin to those on a decent Asus router.

It’s been my experience that it’s always dodgy to find good, reasonably-priced router hardware for this (easily available on the market, without shipping it straight from China).

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Same for me. I contacted my ISP ( Comcast, currently ) and they referred me to their approved devices list. I bought a Motorola Arris. While I have access to it and I own it, they actually control it. That is extent of their control. I also own and support my own router and I have a OPNsense firewall sitting between my cable modem and my WiFi router.

Just a suggestion, if you do go out an buy your own cable modem, do as I did and get one that is approved by your ISP and also make sure that it is DOCSIS 3 compliant ( or you not get the speeds you pay for ).

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I bought 3 PI 4b’s this weekend. Let the projects begin …

First up: NEMS Linux ( Nagious Enterprise Monitoring Server ).

Next will probably be a syslogd server to collect logs from my router, managed switch, and OPNsense firewall.

For the final one, I’m going to play around with Ubuntu Mate 20.10 on a Pi 4b 8gb. This will eventually be repurposed as a kodi box.

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I’ve been running DD-WRT on a Linksys WRT3200 ACM for a little over 2 years. It runs flawlessly. I’m considering switching to OpenWRT.

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Dodgy is the word indeed. When you live in Europe, and you have a look at the supported devices (especially the build numbers), then you have a tough time getting the exact hardware.
I’ve had some on/off success in finding the right hardware and flashing said hardware with openWrt or ddWrt, or even Tomatorouter. Sometimes it gets bricked, sometimes i succeed.
So a show, or even a podcast for that matter, would be very much appreciated indeed.
I’d learn a thing or two for sure.

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