Ubuntu home server on the web

[rpmckinley]

I am considering building a home based server for sharing files on the web.
From what I have read Ubuntu is the best around anywhere.
I am considering one of the ASUS PN-50 series small computers, preferably with an Intel processor.
Does anyone have any knowledge of these computers?
In terms of being used as a server?
Also, web sharing and web access by others;
This would require a web html style interface of some kind.
Should I consider an Apache host system??
I was a Novell Netware CNE way back when so I'm not new but rusty at servers.
Currently have Mint 19.3 on desktop pc.

[deepakdeshp]

Ubuntu server 20.04 will be the distro for you. It doesn't have a GUI. All terminal. Of course later a gui can be added.

[deepakdeshp]

It will come pre built with Apache MySQL and php all bundled during the install.

[ivar]

I found this on the interwebz , but havent heard much about it elsewhere ...

https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox

[rpmckinley]

Thank You, You answered a bunch of questions.
I knew Ubuntu was my only choice for a home based server but the Apache built in I didn't know.
As far as that Asus PN50 A friend over in the UK suggested a Rasberry PI4.
And there seems to be several people doing it.

https://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberr ... 091&sr=8-4
That Freedom Box looks very interesting, I'll have to spend some time looking at that option.
Thanks, Appreciate it.

[rpmckinley]

I now have the ubuntu server ISO "burned" to a bootable USB thumb drive.
Next is to find the right hardware that will do everything I want, which is not much.
At my age learning can be painful. But still fun.
Thank You.

[deepakdeshp]

If you have a decent machine you can even try the server as a virtual machine. For a physical machine it requires a very light specs machine.

Instead of Apache you may go for nginx.

[ivar]

I knew Ubuntu was my only choice for a home based server but the Apache built in I didn't know.

I'd rather say the choices are overwhelming, lol! But a good idea to pick something thats widely used, easier to get help and find good tutorials.

As for hardware, the Intel NUC pc's also seems to have good linux support. I have 4 of them (2013-2015 vintage) running mint 20, one of them running server stuff

Also some nice tricks & tutorials here:
https://www.smarthomebeginner.com/

[deepakdeshp]

Something about nginx
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... tH3TDAJ9ks

[rpmckinley]

Sounds like either a Rasberry PI or a Asus PN-50 for the hardware. Small simple and inexpensive.
Next question is Internet connection.
I currently have and use a DSL phone line, good speed so far.
I also use it for my home TV - live streaming for news channels and Youtube. We cut the TV cable news years ago.
This proposed server will be on 24/7 but probably wont have much traffic.
Should I get a dedicated DSL line for it???

[rpmckinley]

NGinx & SmarthomeBeginner,,,, ??? !!!
Looks like I've got some more reading to do.
Good tips,,, Thanks guys.
This will keep an old fool busy for a while.

[rpmckinley]

NGinx vs Apache;
"Put simply, if all other factors are equal, Apache performs better when hosting sites that experience relatively low levels of traffic – perhaps 1000 requests or fewer per hour. NGINX performs better for sites that experience lots of requests simultaneously."
https://www.sumologic.com/blog/nginx-vs ... st%20cases.

I'm not expecting the kind of traffic that NGinx was developed to handle. 1,000 requests per hour !!!?? WOW,,, I expect more like 25 per day.
But that stuff and knowledge is great to know about. No doubt that will come in handy at some point along the way.
I have in the past hosted and managed systems that did have that kind of traffic, the load was over 10,000 requests per hour at times.
But that was several years ago.
I do like the idea that NGinx performs better on some small hardware units. This one is going to be really small.
Once again - - Thank you.

[deepakdeshp]

You are welcome. Please share your experience here as you set up your server.

[deepakdeshp]

I run a Ubuntu server hosted on my VMware workstation using Apache. It runs on Mint 20.2 host.

https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-nginx/

[rpmckinley]

I just ordered a Raspberry PI-4B with 4GB ram, 128GB Sdd card and case.
I hope this will do the job, it's all light duty.
It will take a few days to set up and configure.
hope it will all work on my existing DSL router system. ??
Along with my existing Mint 93.2 desktop.
Thanks for all the help guys.
I'll post updates as I go along with this little experiment.

https://www.amazon.com/Vilros-Raspberry ... 49&sr=8-13

[ivar]

one thing to be aware of when running a server on a PI with SD card - if the server software does a lot of writing to disk , those cards wear out pretty fast.
Workarund for that: use a USB attached SSD disk. But for the usage you describe here it should be a non-issue.

Got a couple friends with "smarthome" setups, with a database running to log temp/weather data, they have had cards wear out in less than 6 months.

[sarahedmonds]

ubuntu has server edition, if we use home edition for server it will need more resource because of the GUI process.
it is no big problem if we just serve little amount of traffic but if we serve more traffic, more visitor our server will need more resource than the server edition.
a few years ago i use home version because i dont like the CLI i need GUI. But, more visitor my server crash, hang and cannot serve the visitor.

[ivar]

There are some interesting and inspiring videos regarding Pi and other single board computers on this youtube channel

here he install ubuntu on a Pi4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGaAZtA0ISQ

[sarahedmonds]

There are some interesting and inspiring videos regarding Pi and other single board computers on this youtube channel

here he install ubuntu on a Pi4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGaAZtA0ISQ

nice one

[rpmckinley]

Things and info that I found;
Interesting;

Installing Ubuntu Server;
https://linuxconfig.org/ubuntu-20-04-se ... stallation

Installing Ubuntu on Sd card on Raspberry PI:
https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/how-to-sdc ... 1-overview

Waiting for hardware.