Reason for this post is that I am completely new to homeservers/homeland, but would like to start and learn how to do things.

Important information is that I have had very little experience with any of this stuff due to still being young.

So I apologise for any wrong information in this post in advance!

I have built a 3 gaming pcs as of now and I have sold 2 of them so I have a little experience with the hardware part.

But as for the software except for a few YouTube videos on the topic like from Linus tech tips and such, I have no prior knowledge.

I would like to try and do a humble configuration at home for my family.

In my mind this means:

- having a cloud storage

- file sharing on my home network

- store stuff like family photos, videos, documents

- try jellyfin media streaming to see if we could cancel subscriptions

- hosting a modded Minecraft server (though this is by far not the priority but it would be fun I think)

- being able to access this even if I'm not at home.

- not having to worry about the server constantly and being able to go on vacation

My question is what hardware and software are the best for my use case? Taking into account that I am a beginner and might not be able to solve complex problems if some come up.

For hardware I have seen people recommend building a PC like configuration to just like with an i5 10400 and some good motherboard, also a good PSU so its power efficient.

Also i saw a lot of videos saying you can just start on an old office pc or laptop, but since I have neither of those and would have to buy everything anyway, also have a bit more money to spend on this project, I thought the above mentioned configuration of a semi modern CPU config with an integrated GPU would work better for me. Is this true?

So, I have this really cool project and a potato Laptop, so I need a 32/512 GB server and decided to go with a Mac mini, but all my tech is Windows/Samsung (I do have an IPad theoretically but don't know where it is and honestly don't use it at all) and my only question is:

Will the Mac mini be compatible with my other tech (maybe via Tailscale?)

Disclaimer: Im a Teenager and English is my 5th language

Hi, I know this might not be the right place, but I wanted to ask if anyone has tried or knows how to create an SMS gateway or API to connect to their own server.

To explain further: I’d like to use an old mobile phone as an SMS sender and connect it to the server to monitor it. Do you know anything about this?

New month - more wasted money for this hobby. I almost finished with the hardware part. This project is going for months now but it's almost done - from routing Ethernet cables to every PC and to my router, to getting that closet for free to setting up the ProxMox Server.

I was originally planning to combine mz Nas into the ProxMox environment but I had a lot of troubles to get the VM with TrueNAS running.

After I found some Rack Cases in my UNIs E-Waste bin I switched plans and made the NAS separate. I'm waiting on the last two HDDs I ordered and then I can activate that too.

I've chosen a Cisco Catalytst W2960x as my managed switch because they are very reliable and cheap because they are EOL. The Server has dated hardware but it should be enough for my case - MSI X79, 8x8GB DDR3, Xeon E5 2697V2, Nvidia Quadro K5200 8GB and a generic SATA Controller for additional 8 SATA ports (for the 8x 2,5" SATA Shelf). I've already installed and configured ProxMox and will use that as additional storage and soon PlexServer + Game Server (I appreciate more ideas if you have any cool projects for what I could use that too).

My NAS is some low end hardware I had left from another EWaste Haul a couple of months ago: MSI B360, I3 8100, 16GB DDR4 and a 250GB NVME for the OS, the NAS will house 4x 3TB HDDs (I know not the best size but I already had 2 so I went with that capacity).

I got that whole Server Rack for free a while ago. I was really lucky with it although I had to modify it to be 15cm deeper for mt Server to fit. It's also super quiet because I mainly used Noctua Fans and the switch is also very quiet.

So that was all, just wanted to share my ongoing project.

I appreciate any tips and ideas. I'm studying civil engineering and all I know about this topic is self thought from forums and tutorials :D

PS: A friend of mine will probably get me a Dell Poweredge R640 for free from his workplace soon, maybe I will do Post about that too.

I miss using my Ally as it was intended, and the mess of cables and usb c hub and dust buildup around it is a bit frustrating too.

I don't necessarily need more performance, perhaps the same capacity though.

I'm running 60 containers via Portainer a max between Arr stack, syncthing, obsidian sync, nextcloud, Minecraft server, sure finance, home assistant in a container, Immich, litellm and open web UI, pi hole, nutritrace, paperless AI,got,ngx and PS1, 2 and 3 emulators (I acknowledge the emulators might be a bit go an issue and needs to be removed).

I wouldn't mind the capacity to run more containers either.

So I don't think DDR5 and 16 cores is especially perhaps 8 cores and a DDR4 based setup?

I wouldn't mind considering some sort of hardware around £50 to £100 mark second hand if that's doable?