Self Hosting

This means instead of your data or an app/service being stored in a cloud server somewhere (and usually owned by Big Tech), you store that data/app/service on an 'always on' computer in your house.

Self hosting is a very rewarding learning journey. It starts relatively easy but can quickly get complicated. We'll do our best to explain how things are done in this section.

Hardware

You can repurpose an old laptop or even a Raspberry Pi. Many choose a 'mini PC' due to their small size and low power consumption.

Server OS

Whatever hardware you choose you'll need to 'flash' an operating system onto it so it can run in the background as a server.

Linux - but which type?

Server edition or Workstation/Desktop edition

Hardcore self-hosting types will tell you that the OS you choose needs to be the 'server edition'. This means that it does not have a graphical user interface like you're used to with Windows or MacOS. Instead you need to interact with it via a 'Terminal' or 'Command line' user interface.

That might work for techies but for normal people it's pretty much impossible. So ignore them and install the 'normal' desktop edition of the OS.

Which Linux distribution?

There are many different distributions of Linux but they boil down to these main categories:

1. Ubuntu
2. Debian (DEB)
3. Fedora (RPM)
4. Arch

Services you can self host

Easy level

Jellyfin

Calibre

Files (via SyncThing)

Intermediate level

Immich

Difficult level

Matrix server

Peertube instance

Mastodon instance

NextCloud server

Next➡️ Learn about the SBMzero certification