I think of myself as technically inclined. I have installed Linux multiple times and have basic command line knowledge, and I’ve programmed in many languages, with the most experience making a static website game using HTML/CSS/JS.

Additionally, I own the superspruce.org domain (my registrar is Dynadot), but I don’t really know how to wield the power of owning a domain. I also have some spare computers to be used for hosting, a 2009 laptop running Lubuntu and a 3900X+32GB RAM desktop other running KDE Neon, but I’m also open to experimenting with cloud hosting too (I know, sacrilege here).

However, I don’t know much about the TCP/IP protocol or other networking protocols. I’m happy to learn, but the curve would need to start gently.

I would want to try hosting my websites, and also a personal non-federated Lemmy instance to serve as a archivable forum for my games. Even if it’s not very useful, it’s great experience.

  • @krash@lemmy.mlEnglish
    5•9 months ago

    Welcome to the cult!

    We all started as beginners, but before you start, take my advice and avoid hosting anything open to the internet until you’ve gained more experience in OS/network hardening and risk assessment.

    First off, I think you’re starting on a good footing. Having TCP/IP knowlege is good, but you don’t need it from the beginning - it will be relevant once you get into network segmentation and setting up reverse proxies.

    I’d say the first thing is to actually choose a rather simple (but useful) application that you can host on Docker and get some experience from OCI-containers and disaster recovery. A lemmy instance (even non federated) might be too much to begin with. Have you considered paperless-ngx, fresh-rss or even syncthing instead? Or begin with formulating what problem you want solved in your daily life.

    I’d say, start by watching this video series to gain a better understanding of Docker (I’ve so far assumed that you won’t do baremetal installs, right?!??). There’s also a pretty good online-lab for you to play around in. Remember, you’ll propably realise that your first deployments could be better, and keep yourself mentally prepared to redo and rebuild eventually.

    Feel free to message me if you want guidance going forward!