this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2025
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Selfhosted

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I recently replaced an ancient laptop with a slightly less ancient one.

  • host for backups for three other machines
  • serve files I don't necessarily need on the new machine
  • relatively lightweight - "server" is ~15 years old
  • relatively simple - I'd rather not manage a dozen docker containers.
  • internal-facing
  • does NOT need to handle Android and friends. I can use sync-thing for that if I need to.

Left to my own devices I'd probably rsync for 90% of that, but I'd like to try something a little more pointy-clicky or at least transparent in my dotage.

Edit: Not SAMBA (I freaking hate trying to make that work)

Edit2: for the young'uns: NFS (linux "network filesystem")

Edit 3: LAN only. I may set up a VPN connection one day but it’s not currently a priority. (edited post to reflect questions)

Last Edit: thanks, friends, for this discussion! I think based on this I'll at least start with NFS + my existing backups system (Mint's thing, which is I think just a gui in front of rcync). May play w/ modern SAMBA if I have extra time.

Ill continue to read the replies though - some interesting ideas.

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[–] HelloRoot@lemy.lol 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I have SFTPgo in a docker container with attached storage. Can access it through many protocols, but on linux I mount it via WebDav.

Whats neat is that I can also share files/folders with either other registered users or with a password or download only link and it has a web gui for that.

[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

LAN or internet?

Https is king for internet protocols.

[–] BonkTheAnnoyed@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

LAN only. I may set up a VPN connection one day but it's not currently a priority. (edited post to reflect)

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[–] SidewaysHighways@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

truenas is cool. I've only used core so far, but i hear scale is taking over

[–] BonkTheAnnoyed@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 days ago (2 children)

this looks promising. Seems a little heavy-weight at first glance... How was it to get up and running?

[–] tofu@lemmy.nocturnal.garden 2 points 3 days ago

It's heavy and it doesn't like if you tinker with the box in Non-TrueNAS ways. In the end it's a convenient shiny gui for ZFS and NFS. But it (or ZFS) needs some RAM (minimum 8 I think), so I'm not sure about it working on your old laptop.

[–] SidewaysHighways@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

the GUI makes it pretty painless. it was my first real attempt at self hosting anything, my first experience with any kind of NFS/SMB setup at all. i was running it as bare metal for around 2 years before using installing as a vm on proxmox.

[–] 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Check out SyncThing, which can sync a folder of your choice across all 3 devices

[edit] oops, just saw you don't plan on using it

In that case, if you use KDE, you can use Dolphin to set up network drives to your local network machines through SSH

TrueNas is pretty top notch and offers a variety of storage and protocol options. If you're at all familiar with Linux style OS, it should be pretty easy to work with. Setting up storage comes with a little bit of a learning curve, but it's not too bad. This SAN/NAS OS is polished, performant, and extensible. If you're not planning on using SMB or Samba, you can most certainly use NFS, or iSCSI if that's your thing.

[–] hexagonwin@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 3 days ago

I use both samba and NFS (with freebsd) on the same disk for my freebsd, linux and win7 desktop machine. All works perfectly fine.

I'm running an rsync daemon for large transfers and use copyparty for easily grabbing files on phones etc.

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