Please don’t host a router on a Hypervisor VM. That does not benefit security. First of all a router is an integral part of the (home) network, therefore it should not be dependent on anything, like a hypervisor. You want to be able to replace or update your server/ hypervisor independently from each other, for example in 5 hrs your router might be still rocking all data, but you would want to upgrade your home server / hypervisor. Furthermore all those OpenWRT, PFsense, OpenSense kernel/ OS hardening is more effective on the hardware itself, especially all RAM/ Memory based security measures. Also if you truly want to be more secure, you use dedicated hardware for multiple reasons, performance is dedicated to only routing/ firewall processing (no other service/ VM can block or slow down packet processing), reducing the attack surface (less software, less attack surface), easier to update.
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3·1 year agoMany given good advice on hardware, and there are plenty other threads with a lot of good recommendations.
Regarding OS, I would recommend to ease into it, and try some before committing. Just try a few services, how stable it is and if the configuration complexity meets your personal learning expectations. (Self hosting is only fun, as long as you can get everything up and running. If you need 36hrs of troubleshooting for every 2nd problem, that awe for elf hosting melts pretty fast.)
- OpenMediaVault
- Unraid
- TrueNAS
- CasaOS.io
I started myself with OMV 0.x, and since then it’s gotten pretty decent. But I switched to plain Debian and CLI tool. After learning enough using OMV as my starting point. I also tried FreeNAS in the beginning, but that wasn’t for me.
And I recently discovered CasaOS, wich is pretty neat and has a lot of benefits, but I haven’t tested it yet.
Was signed up there as well, when they started like years ago. But I couldn’t get back into their free tier.
My bad, I meant SPF record.
I have some issue with just that, all emails will end up in a spam filter (if your mail provider is thorough). Also your IP might end up on a public spam/ block list. To much to go wrong, in case some alerts need to reach me.
Plus I use a strict DMARC, so at least a correct SPF is needed.
I’m using postfix on my machines, all services send to it and it just to relays via a SMTP service. So only one point to configure.
I was specifically looking for the last part, a SMTP relay service.
It sounds very promising.
Thanks. I really appreciate all those “niche” products. With just web research I wouldn’t have found it.
I thought about self-hosting, but first of all I got a dynamic IP. Further I want a solution which has roughly 98% availability and 99,99% reliability, because this service tells me if everything burns/ goes awry. That’s not the service I’d like to “toy” with. And hosting any kind of mail service with 98% availability and 99,99% reliability, automatic DKIM roll-over etc. is a tough nut. Even VPS cost’s seem higher than just Amazon SES.
Good to know, thank you. I looked into proton for my primary mail account, but I didn’t think of it for that purpose.
Even if it’s a bit different. It’s always nice to see what’s out there. I will definitively look into it.
Sure - but that would be another thing to self-host - because I have at least 5 machines which need to send, and I have a dynamic IP address - so it would involve updating the MX records via DNS API for at least 5 sub domains.
To be honest, I’m a KISS kind of guy - not everything technical possible or imaginable is worthwhile. Especially if it’s such a crucial part like alert monitoring. I want it done simple, secure, without caveats and keeping the complexity on the lowest level possible.
Many people underestimate it, my goto for a fast an reliable file share service, which does just that, is production ready, has great client software and uses just few resources.
Seafile
True, but for playing around with lemmy and doing some test’s it’s ideal - and it’s free! In case you are serious about hosting a lemmy instance, there should be at least some sort of backup/ disaster recovery strategy in place.
I’m not sure if it’s still valid, but Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) had a 4 vCPU, 24 GB RAM, 200 GB HDD free tier. No costs, ever! You could sign up there and setup an even bigger instance.
I know it’s been mentioned before - but plain Wireguard is my way to go. KISS - keep it simple, stupid! setup might be a little bit of a learning curve, but once you got it for one device, others aren’t a big issue.
I had a CA, with OpenVPN, but that’s to much for a small setup like remote access to your home network.
Use it on iOS, Ubuntu and Windows to access my home services and DNS (Split-Tunnel).
It’s a pretty easy setup on OpenWrt. A quick look into the fresh tomato wiki tells me, that it shouldn’t be to complicated to achieve on your router (firmware). If you need help with setting Wireguard up, let me know, I’m happy to help out.
Codeberg is using Forgejo, basically Gitea. You can change the editor, if you like with other editors if you host Forgejo or Gitea yourself. Features like CI/CD can be deactivated.
Funny 😄 pretty much asked myself the same thing, the day before yesterday.
Specifically, I have been looking for encrypted mail hosters supporting your own domain. Also, hosting in Europe on dedicated Hardware (or at least guaranteed European VPS), GDPR compliance and some sort of certification/ verification of the said requirements and their claims!
What I came up with:
- mailbox.org (never heard of it before, but pretty much has your requirements covered) <- Tor nodes, anonymous accounts(no personal data at all!)
- proton mail
- Tutanota (pretty young - but interesting concept)
I won’t cite their individual plans - that’s for you to figure out in detail.
The thing that bugs me with the Proton Mail and Tutanota, to effectively make use of their threat model/ encryption you have to use their Apps/ Software. EDIT: I’m currently using Microsoft365 - with it you are pretty much locked in - I fear with Proton or Tutanota it’s the same. Migrating is a pain.
I’m trying mailbox.org at the moment - they got a 30-free trail.
I have to agree, RAID has only one purpose - keep your data/ storage operating during a disk failure. Does not matter which RAID level or SW. Thank god you mentioned it before.
There can be benefits in addition depending on RAID level and layout, for example read & write speed or more IOP/s than an individual disk (either SSD or HDD). However, the main purpose is still to eliminate a single disk as a single point of failure!
Back to topic - if you have a strong requirement to run your services which (rely) on the SSD storage, even if a disk fails - then SSD Raid yes.
For example.: I have s server running productive instances of Seafile, Gitea, and some minor services. I use them for business. Therefore those services have to be available, even if one disk fails. I cannot wait to restore a backup, wait for a a replacement disk and tell a client, Hey, sorry my server disk failed” (unprofessional)
For protection against data loss - backups: one local on another NAS, one in the cloud. 👌🏼
I cannot recommend any consumer router brand, at least not with stock firmware, because any of them don’t have guaranteed update policy. Further, some of the stock firmware contains insecure protocols, like telnet (yes, still), outdated ciphers (SSL, TLS 1.0), and some feature you want is always missing. Further they often lack innovative features like WireGuard in updates, mostly bug fixes and security patches.
That’s why I would urge you to consider using one of the router/ gateway distributions listed below.
Depending on your requirements, I can recommend the following router OS:
If you have an old laptop or pc to spare, you could at least give those two a try.
Someone already mentioned it, OpenSense runs only on x86 / PC Hardware (and MiPS). OpenWRT can be flashed onto a lot of consumer routers as well as be installed on traditional x86 / PC hardware.
OpenWRT has a hardware table on their website for supported models. Some of them come cheap if you buy them used and are pretty decent.
If you like more flexibility, I can recommend building your own router. Used thin clients, Iike for example Fujitsu Futro S920. Thin clients are basically low-powered PCs, which are often cheap on the used market and provide a variety of hardware interfaces. Most use Intel NICs, some have secondary NIC, can hold SATA disks, provide interfaces for WiFi (pice, miniPCIe, m.2) or extension cards, have high efficient power supplies and are in majority are passive cooled. Or get some SBC/ Low-Powered board with the interfaces you need. It doesn’t need to be new hardware.