Background
As we come to rely more the Cloud, or digital services hosted on someone else's computer, we must consider how this affects our personal privacy and security. Open-source software solutions can help put us back in control of our digital experiences. By joining these open collaborative communities, we can include our diverse voices throughout their growth process. We have a right to privacy and should be in control of our digital ecosystem.
Overview
We will be creating a personal home server that can be used to host our own cloud applications. These can be services you host for yourself, your family, your community or a small business.
Home Server
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We will use all free and open-source software like Debian Linux and Docker. |
| It will run "headless" – without a display – and control it remotely through a web browser. |
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We will just need to bring our own hardware and internet services. |
Services
Through this guide, you can explore open-source alternatives to many of the cloud services you're already familiar with.
There are so many cloud services to choose from, including self-hosting your own:
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Personal cloud and office suite for managing your files, contacts and calendars. |
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Multimedia streaming server with automated downloads and always up-to-date metadata from open repositories. |
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Professional platform for building a community and gathering feedback |
| Personal blog for connecting with your friends and family. |
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Many self-hosted services focus on modern and responsive web application interfaces that run in your browser. This means you can securely access your self-hosted services from any computing device. Many also support desktop and mobile apps built for your operating system.
Home Page
By self-hosting Organizr, or other tools like it, we can create a homepage that keeps all of our services accessible in one place – on desktop and mobile devices.
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Create a Progressive Web App to add your Organizr to your desktop. |
| Sort your self-hosted services into tabs and groups to make the perfect home page. |  |
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Extend your home page with add-ons for other self-hosted services. |
Requirements
There are several things we will need in order to operate a self-hosted server from home. You can fulfill each of these requirements at a variety of price points, including free options where available.
Computer
$50 – $1500
You will need computer hardware to host your server. This can be anything from a Raspberry Pi to a dedicated tower server, new or refurbished. Create a budget server and upgrade it as the need arises.
Router
$50 – $150
You will need a router that has Port Forwarding so it can forward traffic from the router to your home server. While not required, Dynamic DNS allows you to connect to your server without purchasing a domain name.
VPN Provider
Free to $9+/month
A Virtual Private Network provider – such as Windscribe – is an excellent way to maintain privacy and anonymity on the internet. While self-hosting services, they can hide personal information like what you're downloading or what you're searching for.
Domain Name
Free – $20,000
Accessing our web server through the internet will generally require a domain name – such as example.com – and there is a wide variability in their price.
Internet Service
Free – $20,000
Accessing our web server through the internet will generally require a domain name – such as example.com – and there is a wide variability in their price.
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You will need internet access for your home server and the devices connecting to it. How much bandwidth (upload and download speed) you'll need depends on what your hosting and for how many people. For your home server, a good starting point is 200Mbps download and 20Mbps upload speeds. Preferably, it is a hardwired internet connection – such as cable or fiber – as opposed to wireless connections – like satellite.
Disclosure
This library was created to advocate for technological freedom, equal access and transformative social justice. The creator is a designer, developer and information scientist who was shaped by open-source technologies.