I'm new to networking and self-hosting and have no idea where to start.

Submitted ⁨⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨vale@sh.itjust.works⁩ to ⁨selfhosted@lemmy.world⁩

I’ve been slowly working my way though a list of skills to learn, both to put on my resume and as personal growth. Networking is the next thing on this list. I am not sure what I am looking for, but I want to start another project. I have built many a personal computer, but the world of networking is a pretty foreign concept to me.

I have experience with building computers and a minor glance at the network-side of things. I’ve set up a Pi-Hole or two and set a basic CUPS server up on a RPi0w, but beyond that, I have no idea what I’m doing, or even what the possibilities are. I just see posts like this and think that it’s a pretty cool hardware project.

Is there any resources you recommend to start learning, maybe what the hardware does? From my outsider’s perspective, I see a lot of people’s racks have at least a router, switch, and firewall, along with various other machines.

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SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Not necessarily in this order:

Learn the OSI and TCP/IP layer models.

Learn the fundamentals of IPv4 and IPv6. (Absolutely learn to count bits for IPv4)

Learn and understand the use-cases for routers, switches, and firewalls.

Learn about DNS. (Domain Name System)

Learn about DHCP. (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)

Learn important Port Numbers for important Services. (SSH is Port 22, for example. The range of port numbers from 1024 to 49151 are “registered ports” that are generally always the same)

Learn about address classes. (A, B, C are the main ones)

And more! This is just off the top of my head. Until you’ve studied a lot more, please, for your own sake, don’t open your services to the wider internet and just keep them local.
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ericjmorey@programming.dev ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Check out Linux Upskill Challenge there’s a community on programming.dev [relative link]

It’s a bit askew from what you’re asking about but very related and a nice onramp to certification options that have some value in the job market.

As a more direct answer, a bit more of a formal approach to learning networking can be persued by following the networking recommendations at Teach Yourself CS

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- BearOfaTime@lemm.ee ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Wow, that’s brilliant! Wish I could upvote you more than once.
  
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- helenslunch@feddit.nl ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  certification options that have some value in the job market.
  
  How much does an experienced sysadmin make?
  
  My research leads me to believe it’s quite low.
  
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  - ericjmorey@programming.dev ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    If your title is system administrator, maybe you don’t get paid as much with the same responsibilities as a DevOps Engineer, System Reliability Engineer, Cloud Computing Engineer etc. Don’t get caught up in titles, sell the value of your skills.
    
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- CommunityLinkFixer@lemmings.world [bot] ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Hi there! Looks like you linked to a Lemmy community using a URL instead of its name, which doesn’t work well for people on different instances. Try fixing it like this: !linuxupskillchallenge@programming.dev
  
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Hotzilla@sopuli.xyz ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I would suggest more learn by doing approach. Learning OSI model etc is nice, but it is quite jargon :)

Use some old PC as a server, and get some network cards into it, and use it as firewall/router. Route your home network/DNS/DCHP through it. Raspberry Pi’s are nice, but their hw is still bit limited.

OPNSense is quite nice and easy free and open source firewall/router solution.

If you want to add bit of flexibility, you can use some virtualization platform like VMware in to the machine, so that you can run OPNSense in it, with some other virtual servers.

Then when you get things working, you can start looking in to VLAN’s, because they are quite important part of enterprise networking. Most cheap switches nowadays support VLAN’s out of the box.

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hungover_pilot@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
A custom router + managed switch is a great way to learn. Studying the fundamentals is also good, but in my opinion it’s not as fun as setting up your own network and learning hands-on.

If you decide to go this route I highly reccomend taking regular backups of your config (and backup again before you change stuff). Part of learning involves breaking things - trust me you will break your network - and in networking that’s one of the best ways to learn. Backups will give you an easy way to restore to a known working configuration.

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- BearOfaTime@lemm.ee ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’d start with a second router added to the current network, use it to segment a “lab” network. Then, when it breaks, it breaks the lab stuff and not your house stuff.
  
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hroderic@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I don’t think you really need to dive that deep into networking to start self hosting, but Network Chuck has a pretty good CCNA course on YouTube youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIhvC56v63IJVXv0GJcl9v…

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- tabularasa@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  This is a great place to start.
  
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swampdownloader@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
You already have a pihole. I assume you like it. You could buy a cheap minipc/NUC and set up proxmox on it and learn to set up and configure a second pihole as a virtual machine. Then you’ll have a server running with the ability to expand as needed. You could look into setting up new network gear (like tp-link’s omada) and run the software controller in a VM. Or you could dabble with HomeAssistant and get into smarthome. Or set up a photo management tool like Immich. Like others have said, find a problem you want to solve and use these tools!

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Crack0n7uesday@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Networking will take you from being “they guy that fixes computers” to full blown Telco engineer. It’s a lot though, more than I can explain. Get managed switch and start having LAN parties.

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Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyz ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters

DNS Domain Name Service/System

IP Internet Protocol

SSH Secure Shell for remote terminal access

TCP Transmission Control Protocol, most often over IP

[Thread #400 for this sub, first seen 4th Jan 2024, 05:55] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

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lautan@lemmy.ca ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I recommend an Orange pi 5 with Armbian installed. Raspberry pi is under powered and it’s a pain getting compatible software for the arch.

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- RootBeerGuy@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I am not sure I understand what you refer too? I have a small rpi server running at home and so far no issues installing various things on it.
  
  Very “specialized” software, yeah ok, maybe thats what you mean.
  
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NightAuthor@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Networking will get you more jobs than anything else you could do. So if that’s your main goal, do that. Surely some project ideas will result from your networking conversations.

As for other project ideas, I think most of us start with a problem and learn how to solve it. But without some foundational knowledge, you may struggle to even realize what’s a solvable problem.

You should maybe start with something like Linus Tech Tips “techquickie” content. Look at tutorials for home servers and home labs.

Or just spin around with your eyes closed, and point at a random tech object in your home, then start searching for info on how that works. How you can customize it, fix it, break it, make your own.

Not sure how else to help you jumpstart what many of us have just been naturally doing our whole lives. Like… be curious. That’s the key actually. Curiosity.

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possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I learned most of what I know though network my services and locking them down.

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Fewer Letters	More Letters
DNS	Domain Name Service/System
IP	Internet Protocol
SSH	Secure Shell for remote terminal access
TCP	Transmission Control Protocol, most often over IP