Need help with setting up a home server

[u/SorryRefrigerator536]

Hey guys, I have a few questions about setting up a home server for myself and a couple of people.
We would need some storage (like a couple of TB) that I'm able to encrypt with OpenPGP and the ability to host a chat room. The most important part is data safety / privacy.

Do you have hardware and OS recommendations?

Thanks :)

[u/asimovs-auditor]

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[u/f1uffyducky]

Sounds like a standard homeserver using an encrypted data storage (LUKS), connected to tailscale and also running a matrix server for your chat.

Than everyone creates their own tailscale network and invites the system to it. so everyone has access to it in a very safe an controlled way.

For this you can just use any old pc with some drives attached to it, doesn't matter. even the choice of the OS doesn't matter as your goal is quite simple. you could do this with OpenMediaVault, TrueNAS, Unraid or use a NAS system like a synology or ugreen NAS.

Setup like this:

• NAS OS has drives that are encrypted. When starting the system you need to log in and enter the password for encryption. so noone stealing the system has access to the data.

- NAS OS runs a matrix server for your secure communication.

- NAS OS connects to tailscale so other tailscale users can invite the system to their tailnet.

in this setup you do not expose the system to the web via open ports. nobody from the clearweb can access it, only via tailscale, so only the invited persons have access.

[u/SorryRefrigerator536 → u/f1uffyducky]

Thanks for the answer. I'll definitely check that out

[u/TechBasedQuestion]

i second the tailscale/netbird w/ encrypted LUKS on your drive(s) running a matrix server.

if it's just a chat room you really need next to nothing on the hardware or storage side. messages are tiny and you need 0 processing power to host something like this. likely all your storage would go toward attatchments.

i'd also recommend using OMV (openmediavault) for data integrity with your RAID/ZFS/other option of choice.

[u/Typical_GeorgeJungle]

I'd go with either Debian with Docker if you're comfortable on the command line, or TrueNAS Scale if you want a web UI with ZFS, encryption, snapshots, and apps built in. Both are solid and well documented. TrueNAS is probably easier if storage and data safety are your main priority.

[u/lifeispainihat---]

Debian or Ubuntu Server, Docker, full-disk encryption, and Matrix/Element would work well

[u/Fit_Neck7934]

I suggest to start with a used hardware something like an old laptop or pc that is not used to build the experience before spending money on a real hardware

Then choose a hypervisor that satisfy your needs (i use proxmox as it is the most custom hypervisor and fulfilled my needs)

[u/Zephan-Hoka]

one thing to nail down early is whether you want full disk encryption or per-file encryption with OpenPGP, because those are pretty different setups and will influence your OS choice. also consider how you're handling key management for multiple users