thayer

@thayer@lemmy.ca

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Cheap but reliable external SSD for RPis⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  You can go with something like this if you want a clean solution.

  I use a drive dock station for my backup drives, and I have a few of these for one-offs too.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Cheap but reliable external SSD for RPis⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Crucial is fine. It’s commonly found in corporate and government workstations.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Adding storage - Best options? (External USB drives, automatic decryption, media, etc.)⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  You’ve clearly done your homework, and you’ve gotten a lot of good feedback already, so I’ll just add a few points…

  • Encryption: If you’re going to bother with encryption, I wouldn’t half-ass it. Why bother at all if you’re fine using auto-decryption or a password that will be guess with any sizeable effort? Just lock it down with a strong password and decrypt/mount the data drive after any reboot; making a shell alias or script for this is trivial. You’re likely not rebooting the server more than once a week anyway.

  • Budget/Specs: I get the sense you don’t have much budget right now, but knowing your hardware would help in suggesting solutions. Do you have an NVMe slot? What kind of mini-PC case?

  • Filesystem: For simple storage, this really doesn’t matter and Ext4 will probably be fine. It’s a mature, robust, no-frills filesystem which is perfect for bulk file storage (docs, music, videos, etc.), but Btrfs would be fine too if you want more options.

  • USB Docking Stations: I’ve had really good experiences with USB docking stations like this one, and I currently use it for attaching my backup HDDs each month. I wouldn’t want to rely on them for realtime data storage, but they do work wonderfully for backups and one-off drive access.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Some hardware talk⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Amazon typically has a few vendors that specialize in refurbished Optiplexes and/or HP Elites in small or ultra small form factor sizes.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Some hardware talk⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Your options will depend on many things…

  • How much storage is needed?
  • Is RAID important to you?
  • Is power usage a concern?
  • Noise level?

  I don’t know how demanding photoprism is, but you could probably do fine with a refurbished i5/i7 Dell Optiplex or similar, with one or more SSDs added to it. If money is really tight and storage needs are high, you could go with mechanical drives instead.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Simple safe encryption for a server?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  The dropbear method is more secure overall, and I plan to incorporate it as well when I find the time to wipe/reinstall my server, but it’s arguably not as easy or simple, which is what OP requested.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Simple safe encryption for a server?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  As mentioned elsewhere, the easiest method is to encrypt only the data drives. This way you can secure shell into the server upon restart and decrypt the data. I’ve been using this method for years now without issue.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Looking for HW recommendations for DIY NAS/Homelab⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I’ve been super happy with my 8th gen Intel NUC i5. I put it in an Akasa Turing fanless case, installed an NVMe for host OS, and an 8TB SSD for data. It’s low power and so quiet that I couldn’t imagine ever using fans again.
  I also have a USB 3.2 drive dock for external backup HDDs, but I only turn it on when actively doing a monthly backup.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Suggestion for buying drive⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  If ambient noise is a concern, I’d go with an SSD. If money is tight, an HDD will give you the best value.

  My server is in an otherwise quiet home office/sitting room, so I went with an 8TB SSD (870 QVO). Spinning disks make a fair bit of noise as the wake up and seek.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Design patterns⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Yep, that’s the one. We use KeePassDX on mobile and KeePassXC on the desktop.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Design patterns⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  My wife and I share a KeePass database for all of our credentials, including the keys to our digital kingdom. I also thoroughly document our LAN design, server setup, and general maintenance notes which, like KeePass, are also shared to her via SyncThing. I also add notes to the KeePass entries, pointing her or my son to the appropriate note file for more info. I will also hints like, “this is the password that decrypts our file server drive…to do this, open a terminal and paste the following…”

  She is comfortable pasting commands into a terminal when necessary, so if anything ever happens to me I am confident she will at least be able to access our data, and move it to a more user-friendly or accessible format.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Do you poweroff your server during night / unused times?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  24/7 here with a NUC 8i5 in a fanless case; all SSD. I use a simple UPS (APC 600VA) to protect the server, modem, router, and main network switch, and it survives outages up to about 30 mins.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Recommendations for a good .ca domain host?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Haha, well I’m glad it worked out in the end. Canspace has been a solid, set-and-forget service for my domains…hopefully you’ll find the same!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Is a cloud backup an acceptable backup for a home server?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  And I would argue that all data should be encrypted now, even the working copy. If you have data that’s worth backing up, you probably don’t want it in the hands of criminals or weirdos either.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Is a cloud backup an acceptable backup for a home server?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s better than no backup at all, but ideally it shouldn’t be your only backup. Still, having any backup puts you ahead of the vast majority of computer users. If the data is truly of value to you, consider also keeping a second backup within your custody and away from your home.

  I rotate two encrypted hard drives between work and home, performing a backup monthly and taking the newest backup to work before bringing home the previous.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨eBook Library Structure⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
  • Instructional (non-tech topics)
  • Manuals (for household items)
  • Programming (tech topics)
  • Books (everything else)

  If our children were still children, we’d probably have a Kids folder too.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Homelab Organization⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I write everything in markdown, and I mean just about everything. Tech notes, recipes, work procedures, shopping lists…everything. If you check my comment history from today, you can see a quick example of the kind of tech notes I keep (firewalld in this case).

  I keep all of my plain text files synced across multiple devices using Syncthing. For desktop editors, I use mostly vim and VSCodium (though Kate is nice too), and I use Markor on Android. This workflow has been efficient for many years now and I no longer waste time constantly reviewing the latest note-taking app.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Recommendations for a good .ca domain host?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I’ve been happy with whc.ca for hosting…been using their pro account for years. I generally use canspace.ca for domain registration.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Networking Dilemma⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  If it were me and there was no way to have an additional drop installed from the exterior, I would still consider running a single cable through the living space to your desired location, as discreetly as possible.

  It’s difficult to suggest exactly how to do so without pics or a floorplan, but I would try to match the wall or trim color and keep the cable tucked close to the floor and/or ceiling throughout the run.

  Once in place, the cable will quickly disappear into your surroundings and you’ll be left with rock solid reliable networking.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨what's your fav recipe manager?⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Yep, this is how we’ve kept ours for over 20 years. Even if you don’t use the command line, most graphical file browsers will search through text files without issue.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Finally got a UPS⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Depends on your power needs. My home server is an Intel NUC, so I’m able to keep it, the modem, router, and main switches running through most power outages with an APC 600VA UPS for about $80 USD.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Change tracking ideas⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I try to keep things simple and just use Markdown files for everything. I have a doc for each physical device, and another doc for each service/container running on the LAN.

  I generally track hardware specs, upgrade paths, and software changelogs/todos as unsorted lists within these docs. It’s super portable and easily synced across devices via Syncthing.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What CardDav and CalDav server do you use?⁩ ⁨⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I haven’t had time to check out the forks from Tibor’s apps, but I recall there were issues with the original Simple Calendar Pro which is why I had settled on Etar at the time. I’ll definitely keep an eye on Naveen’s repos though.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What CardDav and CalDav server do you use?⁩ ⁨⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Thanks for the info. Davx5 has worked well for me, but it’s still nice to have alternatives.

  My challenge has been finding a decent open source calendar app for Android, which unfortunately excludes Calengoo. I’m just not interested in using closed source network-capable apps to manage my personal information.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What CardDav and CalDav server do you use?⁩ ⁨⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Radicale, and I only sync when at home on the LAN. Super simple to setup and requires minimal maintenance and little resources.

  Thunderbird on the workstations syncs directly to Radicale, and is an overall good experience.

  I use DAVx⁵ to sync on Android/GrapheneOS, bit not overly thrilled with the calendaring options there…Etar works “okay”.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What's your favorite note-taking application?⁩ ⁨⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  VSCodium on the desktop, and Markor on Android. I write everything in markdown and VSCodium is already where I spend half my time editing and writing code, so it was a easy choice for me. I also use Vim for quick one-offs, especially if I’m already working on a project with it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What do you use to mount encrypted drives on boot?⁩ ⁨⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Manual password entry. I feel that any other method offers insufficient security.

  For my desktops, this means interactive decryption before the OS loads. For my servers, only the data drives are encrypted, and I decrypt them manually over SSH whenever a reboot is needed (kernel updates, etc.).

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨SSD only NAS/media server?⁩ ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeah, it definitely sounds like you’ve got right approach already. If you can manage your data within the lower storage capacities, I think you’ll appreciate the reduced noise and power consumption of the SSDs.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨SSD only NAS/media server?⁩ ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  My home server is a NUC inside an Akasa Turing fanless case with an 8TB Samsung 870 QVO SSD for my file shares. Works great and it’s completely silent.

  It should go without saying that routine, off-site backups are an important element of any server administration, regardless of drive type.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Tv box recommendations?⁩ ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Thanks for clarifying. I recalled seeing something about 720p caps for certain streaming services when using non-DRM platforms, but I wasn’t sure which.