Jellyfin for only music streaming would probably be fine, if it’s just you using it. PiHole would be good, you could probably get a low impact distro on there to run Docker containers, but only pretty light services on it.

About to build my first really nice homelab NAS for Jellyfin, archiving, etc. targeting between 30-40TB if all goes well :)

?..It’s a great tool that provides all the security of VPN access without having to struggle with the more technical aspects of spinning up your own VPN, and it’s zero cost for personal use.

You could also use Netbird if you wanted, but I have been using Tailscale extensively and it’s awesome.

IP white lists and firewall exceptions will help, but exposing ports on your home router is almost always a bad idea, especially for something as trivial as a game server.

I would highly recommend Tailscale. It’s free for up to 3 users, and if you have more friends than that, I would have them all sign up with free accounts and then share your laptop device with their tailnets.

It’s very easy to setup and use, costs nothing, and will be far more secure than opening ports and trying to set up IP white lists, protocol limitations, etc.

Tailscale creates something called an “overlay network” it’s basically a virtual LAN that exists on top of your real network and can be extended to other people and devices over the internet. It’s fully encrypted, fast, and like I said, very easy to set up.

I’ve been thinking of using Linkwarden for a while now. As my computer usage spreads across more and more devices, having a single place to go for all my bookmarks would be fantastic.

Performance and how configurable things are, plus ease of use.

For instance, my default router/modem device from my ISP was super clunky and confusing. I needed to set up some custom port forwarding and firewall rules. The aftermarket router I bought was faster, had way better wireless coverage, and the UI was so much easier to set up the configs I needed.

So it’s up to you, from what you said, seems like you probably would be good with the default from your ISP.

For general system stats, I like btop. It runs in the terminal, so you can monitor it through SSH remotely. It also is much more readable than some of the other older top process monitors.

Docker desktop is a nice GUI interface for local docker container management, Portainer if you want something more enterprise grade.

XCP-ng or Proxmox if you need a bare metal hypervisor. Both open source, powerful, mature, and have large communities with lots of helpful documentation.

I think you can migrate ESXi VMs directly to XCP-ng. I have moved onto it about 6 months ago and it has been solid. Steep learning curve, but really great once you get the hang of it, and enterprise grade if you need stuff like HA clustering and complex virtual networking solutions.

XCP-ng hypervisor main box for my VMs, mostly Ubuntu Server but some Alma Linux VMs too. TrueNAS Core for my NAS box.

Might start switching my VMs from Ubuntu Server to Debian soon, we’ll see.

Haha totally!

Subbed!

When I first deployed Nextcloud, it was just like this. Random crashes, lockups, weird user signin issues, slow and clunky.

But one day it just started working and was super stable. I didn’t do anything, still not sure what fixed it lol.

I just scream-laughed at this! xD

My experience with Proton has been really great so far. Constant steady improvements to their services and UI/UX, I wish I had switched to them sooner.

I’ll check them, Ty!

Interesting design, I’ll look at it, thanks!

Yeah, seems like there isn’t a big group of folks that are looking for this kind of solution.

I’ve thought about designing a case to my specs that could be 3D printed or maybe be built with some very basic steel sheet, but that’s more DIY than I have time for right now.

Oh nice, these might be exactly what I need, thanks!

Thanks for the link!

Also an option I am considering. I prefer something a little more professional if possible, but not a bad option if I can’t get something else to work.

I’ll take a look at the 45 Drives case, thanks!