I saw a video from @ryan on my YouTube feed, and it made me think the last time I followed a self hosting tutorial from @wendell. So i thought I’d share my experience and suggest a couple possible future videos???
With the point of self hosting namely being privacy, I really wanted an email server since it’s a service that the big spy corps tend to get us hooked with. Email wasn’t covered in the video, and I found out for good reason. I spent nearly a week with a lot of help from everyone on the forum, and after I did get it up and running I decided I didn’t like it; so I trashed the server, lol. However, since then I decided to give it another try, first by creating the server manually, which made me think I should get back to my school work instead of making a server. That’s when I gave iRedMail a shot. It really couldn’t have been easier! I used linode for my VPS, so after running the install script I was able to follow their documentation to secure the server. I chose to install the optional SOGo software, and I’m glad I did. I was able to easily follow the iRedMail’s documentation to sync my calendar, contacts, and notes on my phone with my server thanks to SOGo.
The whole process takes about an hour to do, kind of a great length for a one or two part video series. As an added bonus, I use sshfs to have a dropbox like folder in my home directory (Ubuntu).
Also, maybe as an alternative to FreeNas, you guys could do a video on setting up a storage server using Linux??? After installing FreeNas on a home server and playing around with it a bit, I decided not to go that route. It just reminded me of WordPress’s world of plugins that break upon updates to the main platform. I then decided I would just install Ubuntu and set up a zfs pool manually. There is a ZFS monitor I saw on GitHub, though I haven’t given it a try yet. Right now I just have Plex and Transmission running, both accessible through a web browser. This project again only takes an hour or two, and just offers a lot more flexibility in the future and a better understanding of what’s going on under the hood for those less familiar with OS’s other than Windows.
Before I go I just wanted to say that I started following @wendell a few years ago, when I decided to go back to school for Software Development. Watching you then was inspirational and encouraging , and with a few months to go before i graduate, you’re inspirational and encouraging as I go into the future. I have a long way to go and a lot of knowledge to gain, but what you’ve shared so far has been truly life changing and I’d like to say thank you. I know the three of you probably don’t think of what you do as Nobel prize winning, and it’s not LOL, but it does have a positive impact on other peoples lives and the world is a better place because of what you share online.