You don't need to be Linux gurus or super-nerds. You must be capable to study and not be afraid to improve yourself. You need some time to spare and then willingness to dig and understand what you are going to do.

Things will be easier if you:

• know your way around the Linux command line
• have internet access
• know how to ask questions in the forums
• are willing to get frustrated at times

So buckle up and go ahead!

You need some kind of hardware that can stay turned on 24/7. You also need storage space. How much is hard to say, depends on how much you like to hoard.

You need a home network (maybe not if your server is also connected to your TV…). So you will need an Ethernet switch or a WiFi access point. This will be your home network

You will also need an internet connection so that your home network will be able to accessn outside.

There are many kinds of internet access. Back in the days it was common to have a public IP address, but nowadays l, except in the USA I guess, the opposite is true and your ISP (internet service provider) will NAT you giving only private addresses. This is cheaper for them but a pain for us. Some connections like 4G and 5G “home” links cannot have public addresses at all.

This is a problem because this will make torrenting and remote access to out home network from outside very difficult if not impossible.

Since this is my situation, I will describe how I bypassed this issue by having (renting) a server with a static public address and running secure tunnels from my home network.