46
Basic Homeserver with old Mac Mini (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 day ago by PennyRoyal@sh.itjust.works to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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Hi all

I'm going to set up a little server on a pretty old Mac Mini, with an external RAID 1 enclosure. It's initially got two main purposes - to run an Immich server to backup my photos when I'm away travelling, and to give me something to learn about Linux and self-hosting on. I used Linux a bit back in the day, but I've been living the lazy Mac life for years. I'd really like to transition out of the Mac ecosystem eventually, so this is an initial toe in the water towards that aim.

I'm planning on running Debian, for stability and compatibility, and backing up to a separate NAS that already exists, so that I'm not completely screwed if (definitely when) I mess something up. It'll all be set up in my power/internet access point shed, so I'd prefer it to be fully remote access, no screen/DE.

It seems like I'll be running Immich in Docker, and that I'll need Tailscale/Wireguard for my remote connection. Does this seem like a decent initial plan? Are there any decent resources for learning this that you'd recommend? I already own the hardware, and all my photos are safe on SD card, SSD, and local backup, so there's no real consequence to me messing about with this. Any advice/thoughts would be welcome

Ta

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[-] ArsonButCute@programming.dev 1 points 1 day ago

Nextcloud certainly can be a cumbersome beast. I'm glad it's the second thing I chose to selfhost instead of something much later on. Gave me a chance to get my feet wet with it. I'm a big fan, but I think if I'd started with smaller services I'd be upset about the breadth of the project. It is absolutely trying to do everything it can, which can be good or bad depending on your use case.

[-] Reannlegge@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

Nextcloud was not my first selfhosted thing, I was paying a service provider for it when I started self hosting everything else I was already frustrated with how nextcloud did not play well with my homelab so I thought why the heck am I paying for it. I have never had good luck with Nextcloud.

this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2026
46 points (97.9% liked)

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