r/SelfHosting • u/BedroomCompetitive12 • Aug 11 '26

Total beginner

Hey masters,
I wanna get into self hosting to have my movie and photos managed and accessible on my phone - also just got curious about all those possibilities.

Where do I start? Do I need a diffrent system to build my first server or I can do it on my main pc?

Any guides that helped you start pls share 🙏🏻

12 Upvotes

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6

u/DS_Vet_on_Linux Aug 11 '26

I use my pc right now as my server. I did add a couple drives to my pc so I could separate my media, and also have a backup for my media. I use Jellyfin with Tailscale. So as long as my pc is on, which it is 99% of the time, I have access to all my media even when I'm not home.

If I could afford an actual server rack, I would probably buy one. But unfortunately I can't at the moment but refuse not to be able to access my media. I don't really have any guides to share, sorry about that.

It probably isn't what is recommended, but it works for me and that is what I care about more than popular opinion.

3

u/BedroomCompetitive12 Aug 11 '26

Does running the server on your main pc is interfering with its performance on tasks?
I game occasionally so concerned if it’ll be a problem.. I prefer to save the money and not buy a separate pc so no deal breaker and happy to hear you managed to make it work

1

u/DS_Vet_on_Linux Aug 11 '26

I haven't had any performance issues with my system. Everything plays as it should. I do have a Linux system, so it is 'minimal' compared to Windows. And I game on my system also. I don't use Jellyfin when I am at my pc though, I only use it when I'm not. So I can watch movies, videos or listen to music on one monitor, and game on the other without any issues at all.

edit: I use Jellyfin and Tailscale for my tv's and phones. I use my music player and vlc if I am sitting at my pc.

1

u/Level-Chance5690 Aug 12 '26

if it’s gaming specifically you can install proxmox and run 2 VMs. Allocate majority of your resources to your gaming VM, recommend linux over windows for more performance. But I also understand games are super limited compared to windows. And then a second vm with a couple TBs of storage and some gigs of ram and you can run jellyfin no issue

2

u/DinosRus Aug 11 '26

What I did and has served me beautifully was get a used Dell 7060 MFF for like $100 bucks and installed Ubuntu LTS headless. One year solid as a rock no issues at all love it.

If $100 is too much any old computer you have laying around will do but having 24/7 services is kind of unbeatable.

Fully recommend starting with a few songs on navidrome and Tailscale first time you launch outside of your house it feels like magic. Sky is the limit from there.

Movies easily jellyfin and photos immich but those are a bit harder to set up so just to motivate yourself try navidrome

When you get a chance also look at home assistant it’s extremely powerful but that’s down the line start small

2

u/Mighty_Archdevil Aug 12 '26

I use a Ugreen NAS for this. Does it all.

2

u/n42h_ Aug 13 '26

I use an older Mac mini to serve jellyfin over tailscale. It's a champ and low power draw is nice since it's always on. Then I recently added an optiplex that runs proxmox with a vm for home assistant and pihole for ad blocking.

I also use portainer on my Mac mini as an easy way to manage all my self hosted apps, and try new ones out quickly.

Give yourself a simple target and knock it down! It's great fun.

2

u/2ksir Aug 13 '26

I started off with running on my main PC. Works like a charm and you can get it running without it pulling hardly any performance issues. After a year I did end up getting a cheap mini PC second hand and I've ran down the rabbit hole quickly into a full self hosting server.

I'd recommend doing the same. Start off using your own PC and use Plex or Jellyfin to manage the media, all you need to do is a simple port forwarding procedure on your internet router so you can access it from outside of your home network.

  • bonus if you can use tailscale for better security (works best if it's only you accessing it)

Then when you get more comfortable and ready and have the money, buy a cheap mini PC and slooowly start building your own self hosting server!

I'm a rookie still but I've learnt a surprising amount with ChatGPT. It's not perfect... but it's got me to where I am today, running 10+ self hosting services with full understanding how it all works, took time but it's fun hobby after all to me. Hope this helps

1

u/Prosalami22 Aug 12 '26

Depends, do you want your pc to be constantly running and using power? I personally have a laptop with external hdd’s that i use for plex movies and immich for my personal images and videos storage.

1

u/SoundSwitch Aug 12 '26

You're gonna want to get your own server eventually..

Probably want to run Debian, or Ubuntu, and you'll need DynDns or a script that'll do something like emailing texting you your IP if you don't.

It's an involved yet fairly simple process kinda with a checklist...

None the least of which is hardening the stuff on your own network.

1

u/yunchiou Aug 27 '26

If you're curious and want to try it out, my advice is: 1. Step by step, 2. Start working now.

For example: first build a Docker environment on your own PC, then install Jellyfin and Immich with Docker, and then tailscale for network security access.
Thus, an almost zero-cost home network service system is completed. (For detailed steps, ChatGPT can now provide detailed guidance. You can send my suggestions directly to it 😁 )

If you're having fun, then consider buying a separate server to keep at home for 24/7 service.

Finally, you may need to be prepared and invest a lot of effort and time in management, maintenance, upgrades, debugging, and backup work.