I've been doing small hosting off and on for a while. Mainly for accessing files at home and the occasional Minecraft server. Not smart, as I've never used a specialized router. I used to use ddwrt, but now it's impossible to flash most consumer grade routers.
id like to learn more stuff about cyber security, host other stuff, maybe host a website, but I'm just a guy who lives in an apartment. I'm stuck with 1 Internet service that claims it will terminate my service if they find me to be hosting anything. They must be semi-lax with that rule, because i haven't gotten terminated for using ssh and cockpit.
Do you guys own a house, or are just fortunate enough to have access to an ISP that will let you host your own stuff?
I have a salvaged desktop in a closet which I use for:
pihole (adblock and local dns)
unbound for upstream dns (no more 8.8.8.8 dns for me)
VPN to access my home network and for some security on public wifi
NAS (only via sshfs, want to try nextcloud) where data is stored on a software raid array
a couple SQL databases for a hobby project
Since I have ports exposed (I know), I have it configured for no root login, some default ports are set to non default ports, and I have fail2ban installed.
I'm pretty proud of my setup and it's made my life and work flow pretty awesome and simplified, especially with the WFH/hybrid stuff.
I want to try nextcloud so I can consolidate my calendar(s?), and get rid of trello as a service, in addition to serving my NAS files. But i want to test drive it first and I dont have a system to do that properly at the moment.
I host Nextcloud and it is huge life saving tool. I use it for backuping photos, hosting calendars, tasks, contacts and RSS. I use Nextcloud Deck as Trello replacement. Nextcloud can also replace Google Docs.
I originally thought it was overkill for me, who just needed to access files, until I read about deck, calendar, and chat. Now I'm ultra sold. I'm tired of slack, trello, email, calendar all being in different places.
Also, you don't need a crazy router to get started. Mine is a crappy $100 router. Most will have port forwarding if you need to expose ports, or ddns if you want a domain name. There are some things you'd want a slightly more powerful router for (like maybe a media server serving most of your house). But you can always upgrade your router.