Hi everyone,

I’m just getting started in the world of selfhosting and wanted some advice.

I’m currently using a 2015 MacBook Pro (i7 with 16gb of RAM) running Sonoma as a small Jellyfin Server. I’ve got an externally powered 4TB HDD connected for media storage. It’s been going fine, and I use it to access Jellyfin on several devices across my house, I don’t have remote access set up.

I’m planning to move home in the next year and I’m thinking about long-term solutions which will allow me to self host more than just Jellyfin, so I wanted some advice. I have some experience using Linux on laptops, and I can troubleshoot networking stuff using ChatGPT. I don’t work in IT/ software but I’m a decent end-user.

Here’s what I’d like to self-host: More robust Jellyfin setup - I’d like access to my media outside of my home, so probably using tailscale or similar. An NAS with a cloud storage solution which will eventually allow me to move away from iCloud. Home security server - a small setup, I’m thinking 2 ip cameras and easy access to footage on my phone. I want to ditch ring for multiple reasons / don’t want to rely on a subscription service. A pi-hole to block adds across my home network.

Moving home is going to be expensive so I’m not trying to spend a tonne of money. Which leads me to ask. What kind of setup would you guys recommend I invest in? I can spend about €500-600. Ideally, I’d like to be at a point where everything I run is open source. I assume I can’t expect to scale up using my 2015 MacBook Pro? Is is possible to install something like proxmox on these machines? my other option would be a small mini pc, perhaps running proxmox. Do I need to buy a dedicated NAS in your opinion? I have 10tb in external hdds that could serve as a makeshift setup.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

  • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.caEnglish
    2·
    3 days ago

    Add storage via good USB hub or use a multi-bay storage box later on. The have built-in hubs. E.g. Terramaster or OWC Mercury Elite Pro.

    For the highest possible resource utilization and security support beyond Apple’s, you could try installing Linux and using Docker containers for everything. You should be able to run quite a few services.

    The next best option resource-wise is to run a large Linux VM and docker containers inside it. The Docker for Mac setup does exactly that. This is how we solved running a complex and resource hungry tech stack locally for development at a past workplace.

    Then come running services in multiple VMs.