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selfhost:start [2025/03/13 09:39] – [A) The Approach] willyselfhost:start [2025/03/13 10:09] (current) – [A) The Goal behind Selfhosting] willy
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-====== 1] Self Hosting ======+====== 1] Selfhosting ======
  
-====== The Approach ======+====== The Goal behind Selfhosting ======
  
-**Self-hosting** and **Home-Automation** are something that grow over time, getting more complex and elaborated. You start small, with some recycled hardware and makeshift cables to host some experimental services, then you start self-hosting important stuff.  You add sensors, devices, IP cameras, and so on as yo udiscover new toys and interesting stuff to try out.+==== Some ethics ==== 
 +Self-hosting is the approach to be __independent__ from big corporations in your digital life. I think that this is important because depending on some for-profit external company to provide you services and tools on which our today's life depends so much is risky. Leaving aside privacy considerations (which you //shouldn't//, just saying) it can lead to a few more issues like vendor lock-in (where you are forced to keep purchasing devices from the same brand/type or you lose years of photos/mails/apps...), exploitation and //enshittification// (whatever that means today).
  
-But then... +Frankly, we are used to have those services "for free", but what if Google or Apple put a pricey price tag? What will you do? (and it is **already** happening, anybody remembers how Google Photos started?)
-  * One day your home internet connection is down and so you find out about **reliability**...   +
-  * One day power goes out at home, and you find out that an unexpected server reboot might cause side issues...  +
-  * One day, maybe during a hot summer day, your USB network card fails on you, when you are on vacation... +
-  * One day that critical CalDAV service stop working due to a Python update and you miss an appointment... +
-  * One day maybe you get hacked....+
  
-So you start studying and investing in UPS, reodundant ISPs with failover capability, advanced routing for your services, containers, backup techniques...+What will you do //when// those **free** services will start pushing ads even more down your throat? When you will not be able to understand if an e-mail is legit or pushed ad? Or when to login-in in your phone or share a contact with a friend you will be forced to watch an ad first? Remember how //You Tube// used to be nice and accessible, but now you need to watch endless ads before //and// during some video which is supposedly free? Have you ever used a phone from some manufacturers like XIAOMI with ads in settings pages? Well...
  
-I went trough the process (except i never got hacked, maybe my security measures where good from the beginning, or i was lucky, o maybe i just never noticed?), and you will as well go trough it.+The answer is complex, as any **good** answer needs to match the **problem complexity**, i tend to avoid any smartpants telling me a simple solution is available to a coimplex problem: that person is either forcing his agenda on me, or trying to trick me into something which is not so good for me.
  
-At the beginning i started out with a very simple approach, spent one year and half more or less expanding to the point where something a little bit more advanced was actually required. I will describe my final implementation (which, actually, is in constant evolution) and, along the way, also describe simpler ways to achieve similar results.+So, basically **self hosting** is gaining back control on your life and be independent, not a slave, to the real big powers of today's digital world. Oh, and having fun too, or i would say, first and foremost.
  
  
-===== Basic Requirements =====+==== Where to start ==== 
 +Self-Hosting is possible, might be less difficult than you expect, and indeed can be fun. Will this be too much for yourself? I don't know, but i don't think so, provided that you have the determination to learn new stuff and the patience to work with the occasional frustration.
  
-The following are the **very basics** that i assume you will take into consideration, on which you should not even think to skip: +I had/have tons of fun learning new stuff and sometimes drowning in the vast ocean of free-hosting tools and stuff that's out there for you to try. You will have to draw lines, give yourself limits and expect a learning curve and a lot of experimentation.
-  * Have a **proper backup plan** in place (see [[selfhost:backup|here]]), and **verify your backups** regularly. +
-  * Have **two** ISPs to provide a failsafe internet connection (see [[router:multiisp|here]]) +
-  * Stored your data on some redoundant **RAID array** (see [[selfhost:storage|here]]) +
-  * Have an **UPS** solution to protect your server / disk RAIDS from blackouts+
  
 +What i will present in these pages are the endpoints of my journey, where i reached endpoints, and the current in-progress activities: i tried and experimented (and i still do) a lot, the pages will reflect it. 
  
-===== Architecture =====+This is not meant to be complete nor correct, its a journey in progress which i share with you (and, to be honest, also not to forget myself what i did in case i need to redo it again).
  
-Focusing on your technological home architecture, here is composed of: 
-  * A //home server// which hosts all the private services you need (see [[selfhost:home_server|here]]) 
-  * An //automation server// which takes care of the home automation itself (see [[:homeautomation|here]]) 
-  * A //network gateway// which connects your home network to the outside world (see [[selfhost:gateway|here]]) 
-  * One or more //WiFi access points// to provide reliable WiFi coverage to your home (see [[networking:wifiplanning|here]]) 
-  * An //external server// which hosts your public services, if any, and ensure external accessibility to your private services ([[selfhost:external_server|here]]) 
  
-This approach separates the main pillars of the setup in a way that makes the overal environment more resillient and each pillar less critical if (when) it goes down for any reason like an hardware failure, software bug or just **un**planned maintenance.+==== Expected Results ==== 
 +Getting free from big tech is not an easy task and probably cannot even be truly achieved without sacrifice. The objective here is to **not** make sacrifices for as much as possible. 
  
-<code>                                                                           +**/start:** //mobile devices note...//
-               ┌───────────────┐                                                       +
-               │               │                                                       +
-               │  External     │                                                       +
-               │   Server      │                                                       +
-               │               │       Internet                                        +
-               └───────────────┘                                                       +
-                  │                       ▲                                            +
-                  │                       │                                            +
-        ┌─────────┼───────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┐          +
-        │         │                       │                                 │          +
-        │         │                  ┌────┼────────┐                        │          +
-        │         │                  │             │                        │          +
-        │         │                  │  Gateway   ◄┼──────┐                 │          +
-        │         │                  │             │      │                 │          +
-        │ ┌───────▼───────────┐      └──▲──────────┘      │                 │          +
-        │ │                   │         │                 │                 │          +
-        │ │   home server     │         │                 │                 │          +
-        │ │                   │         │                 │                 │          +
-        │ └───────────────────┘   ┌─────┼─────────────────┼────────────────┐│          +
-        │                         │     │            ┌────┼─────────────┐  ││          +
-        │                         │     │            │                  │  ││          +
-        │                         │     │            │    Automation    │  ││          +
-        │         Home            │     │            │      Server      │  ││          +
-        │                         │     │            │                  │  ││          +
-        │                         │     │            └──────────────────┘  ││          +
-        │                         │ ┌───┼───────────────┐                  ││          +
-        │                         │ │                   │                  ││          +
-        │                         │ │    WiFi Access    │                  ││          +
-        │                         │ │     Point(s)      │                  ││          +
-        │                         │ │                   │                  ││          +
-        │                         │ └───────────────────┘                  ││          +
-        │                         └────────────────────────────────────────┘│          +
-        └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘                                                                                         +
-</code>                                                                                +
  
 +I will **not** cover how to free yourself from google or your phone vendor's Android (of course, Apple ecosystem is so far from //freedom// that i will not even mention it). You can learn about [[https://lineageos.org|LineageOS]] and other //custom-roms// for Android and try to load them on your phone/tablet/android device, you can learn about [[https://microg.org|MicroG]] to get rid of the pervasive Google's services, but it is outside the scope of these pages.
  
 +Everything i **will** cover can be applied on top of whatever Android phone you already use without the need to modify it.
  
 +**/end:** //...mobile devices note//
 +
 +These pages will cover your **home** setup, where i expect that all your data will be stored. I also assume this **home** setup will be stored in a private place, so not on some rented metal or virtual machine on the public internet, because where you store your data is as important as who manages it, and i am not impressed by the idea of cloud storing in encrypted format: all your data will still be at the mercy of your storage provider physical and IT-security, and of course subject to data leaks, decryption and resell / abuse, and even plain and simple removal without notice. If any of that should happen, it must be for my own errors in securing my stuff rather some cutbacks or malevolence from somebody else. 
 +
 +So, what is that i aim at securing //on my own premises//?
 +  * **Contacts**: all my contacts data, address books.
 +  * **Calendars**: all my appointments and memos.
 +  * **Files** and personal documents: ID's scans, medical files, tax related documents...
 +  * **Photos**: my family's photos, old scanned photos and any photos i take with my phone...
 +  * **Notes**: store, manage and access your personal notes.
 +  * **Smart Home**: access lights, heating, controls the //smart// home directly.
 +  * **Media Collection**: store, manage and access my //legally// owned media collection (music, videos, books...)
 +
 +I will also cover self e-mail management, but with a good chunk of caveats. I strongly suggest you do not //only// rely on an email server hosted by you, but also retain at least one account on a more official email provider. Also keep in mind that **it is not possible to reliably self-host an e-mail server at home**. Yes, technically it might be possible, but if you do, you will run into a lot of issues and reliaiblity problems.
  
  
  

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