Hello everybody,

my plan is to switch from Android to GrapheneOS. In this process, I want to get rid of my reliance on my google account as much as possible.

To this end, I’d like to selfhost some “critical” data, e.g.

  • contacts
  • calendar
  • online drive for files (e.g. google drive alternative)
  • some basic note-taking app (like google keep)

and so on.

I do some selfhosting already, though it is not that kind of “cannot lose this” data. So I’d like to share my thoughts and ask for your opinions and experience for the process.

More details for what I want

contacts

  • have to be syncable to the phone
  • if possible, some webinterface to edit / browse

calendar

  • has to be syncable to the phone
  • webinterface + sync to desktop / phone
  • if possible, send invite-links to events to others

drive

  • files of my choosing must be offline-available
  • ever other file should not use storage on the phone
  • if possible, able to share links to download files
  • if possible, able to share links to view with online editor (see below)

document editor

  • think google sheets / google docs
  • if possible, able to share links to view documents online

smartphone photos

  • auto-backup camera folder

There may be some things I’m not thinking about right now, but this seems to pretty much be it.

If possible, all of this should be accessible only via vpn.

What I already have

I have a pfSense physical appliance that’s already managing my home network, got an OpenVPN already setup, dynamic DNS working properly for the lack of a static IP, etc.

I own 2 mini-PCs (some Intel NUC, some passive-cooled zotac with an intel with 4c/8t). One of them (zotac) is currently running as my Proxmox Virtual Environment Hypervisor, managing 3 VMs.

I also have a second PC which misses some critical parts, so it is not currently in working condition. I think there’s an AM4 mainboard and 16 or 32GB of DDR4 RAM in there. I could make a NAS or a new hypervisor out of this, but the case (Fractal Design Define 7) is quite big and a full PC is probably worse for energy-efficiency than my 2 mini-PCs and is going to be more expensive.

Not much in terms of storage sadly

  • 1x 6TB external USB HDD (used for backups)
  • 1x 2TB external USB HDD (used for data)

What I plan to do

The kind of data I’m going to be hosting myself now is very import, so it cannot be lost or corrupted.

But the feature list doesn’t seem to be overly complicated. This seems like something nextcloud could do.

This means, I will probably need to buy

  • 2x 4 TB HDD for storage for data RAID
  • 2x 8-10 TB HDD for backups
  • 2x external RAID case

Then I could connect the data RAID to the already running zotac pc and spin up new VMs for nextcloud and whatever else I might need and start serving my data from home.

The Intel NUC will be used as a Proxmox Backup Server, connected to the backup RAID. Keeping some daily, weekly and monthly backups.

On the phone-side, I’d have the vpn always active. Whenever active, sync of contacts, calendar entries, photos etc. should be possible.

Questions

Is there anything I missed? Did any of you already try something like that? Does anybody here see a potential problem with any of the above?

Can anyone recommend a RAID-1 external enclosure without a fan and some quiet and energy-efficient HDDs?

  • MajesticElevator@lemmy.zipEnglish
    2·
    9 hours ago

    Sure! I always try this

    A small downside: you can’t seem to restrict people commenting on a file you shared. There’s a built in “discuss about this file” feature but it shouldn’t really be a problem, unless you intend on sharing a file to a looot of people, because afaik you can’t moderate it

    I’ll definitely have to try that before trying to send out links.

    Yea, I recommend you always test features to see how they work and what they imply (and if they’re bugged, because Nextcloud often updates and sometimes breaks small things)

    • hamsda@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      1·
      9 hours ago

      you can’t seem to restrict people commenting on a file you shared

      That’s okay. My circle of friends I’d share files with is not all too big. So everything stays between a few people anyway.

      Nextcloud often updates and sometimes breaks small things

      Does breaking stuff happen often? I plan to use the docker image nextcloud:stable-fpm in the hopes of bypassing some bugged releases.

      • MajesticElevator@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        8 hours ago

        Does breaking stuff happen often? I plan to use the docker image nextcloud:stable-fpm in the hopes of bypassing some bugged releases.

        In a span of a year, I had small visual bugs appear, drag and drop not working (have to manually click “upload from computer”). Easiest way to avoid them is to wait before switching to a new major release. So things regularly break, but they’re not essential and your data should always stay safe.

        I don’t know the docker container you linked but if it does that, or if you wait a bit before updating, then you should mostly be fine