I am somewhat late into the Linux-verse (three years in now) and want to move into self-hosting to do two things:

  1. Host my own Jitsi server and sessions. (or any other open source solution)

  2. Host my own solution to privately and securely share photographs of my kids and life here with my family abroad.

At some point, I want to host my own little static-website about myself which should “replace” having to give people a LinkedIn account or something.

The thing is, I know nothing about owning domains, etc. I have never done this before. I have been lurking around this forum to learn some of the basics, but would really like a more tailored reply (is possible). I am working in Europe.

  1. Which computer should I use? I want to host everything on my computer at home. I don’t want to go the VPS route.

  2. Where can I buy an inexpensive domain(s)? I assume I only need one.

  3. What other things do I need to consider? My current broadband is IPv4 only.

  • poVoqEnglish
    2•8 months ago
    1. An old laptop is the easiest to start with, but you might eventually run into storage limitations with it. But in general getting an older one and putting a bigger SSD into it is usually sufficient (but look for one that can limit battery charging to 80%). Otherwise a thin client or a mini-pc is good, but they don’t come with a built-in UPS or Keyboard/Screen for quick troubleshooting.
    2. Domains cost pretty much the same everywhere, but I think in your case OVH is good. They give you a free email service and dynDNS for free with every domain purchase, so that takes care of the difficult stuff like email hosting for notifications and the like. It also includes a free 100mb webspace you can use for that static site and not worry about your server being online all the time.
    3. IPv4 only is no problem. You need to see if your ISP gives you a dynamic public IP (so no NAT) and if the router you are using allows access to configure port-forwarding.