Help me choose the os for my first home server reddit / selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Loryx99 · 2023-10-16 11:11 Hi guys I'm building my first home server with the following hardware: - 4gb ram - 2 core cpu ( 2 threads) - dedicated memory for Os + 2 drives for storage . I'm building it for: - store photos ( immich only local network) - store varius files ( documents/music/backups ecc) this will be shared in local network with samba or similar. - pi hole/Adguard - home assistant ( in the future) I know the hardware it's very limited so I don't consider proxmox ( but you can prove me wrong). Right now i don't know if go for : - unraid: seems to be more user friendly, which is not mandatory but always nice. - trueNas scale : Os is free of charge With both solution i will have to buy something, more ram for truenas ( 24€ for 16 gb ddr3l) or 60€ for unraid license. Right now I can't buy both ram and license ( so unraid and 16 ram is not option). What do you guys suggest? I'm open to other options too, thank you for the help! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BroadRecy · 2023-10-16 11:15 Habe you thougt about proxmox as it is free of charge and doesn't require much ram? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Eirikr70 · 2023-10-16 11:40 I always recommend Debian for its security/stability and for the strength of its community. For hardware, I don't think you shall be able to have Immich work with 4 GB. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rjames24000 · 2023-10-16 11:48 debian and please use zfs immediately its hard injtially but great for your data (zfs has snapshots) so you can easily roll back if you mess something up ---------------------------------------------------------------------- MisterBazz · 2023-10-16 12:02 You're going to need to curb your expectations of how much you can get done with only a 2 core CPU and 4GB of RAM. Honestly, running plain jane Linux is your best option. Debian, RedHat, or Ubuntu (server OS, no GUI). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- s_91 · 2023-10-16 12:12 My first "NAS" was using a laptop. Installed OpenMediaVault, enabled docker and learned how to use it. Learning how to run docker containers might be a bit tricky for a newbie, and it honestly took me a while to learn it properly. Luckily, CasaOS seems like an easy introduction to docker and its containers. Watch [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWlrodHF1EE) video to learn more. It combines OMV + CasaOS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thekrautboy · 2023-10-16 12:17 https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/search?q=best+os&restrict_sr=on&in clude_over_18=on&sort=relevance&t=all https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/search?q=best+distro&restrict_sr=o n&include_over_18=on&sort=relevance&t=all And from only 2 days ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments /1770uvp/what_os_should_my_server_run/k4q5vv6/ Also look at https://cosmos-cloud.io/ and https://casaos.io/ they are often ideal for people who ask these kinds of questions (=beginners). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Panz_Hunter · 2023-10-16 12:27 I agree with Ubuntu but I would install the desktop version. If you aren't comfortable with the terminal yet it'll be difficult to do things ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thisiszeev · 2023-10-16 12:32 I would recommend this... Spend the extra money on RAM. ​ 1. Setup a "vanilla" Debian server. 2. Install Apache/Ngnix, MariaDB, PHP8.1 3. Install Nextcloud (will give you photo and file management and a whole lot more) 4. Install PiHole to run inside the existing Apache/Ngnix server. If you need guidance step by step, let me know. You can make use of ZFS for the file system if you want the roll back feature. I use MergerFS to make two or more drives appear as one. I use Unison, entr and a bit of Bash scripting to make extra copies of important folders across more than one drive. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Loryx99 · 2023-10-16 13:36 But the limiting factor is ram true? ( typesense and face detection disabled). So with upgrade to 16 gb should be fine? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Loryx99 · 2023-10-16 13:41 Thank you for the suggestion, yes i will probably go for zfs, do you think with 16 gb of ram i can run truenas? Because i prefer a ui vs loggin in with ssh every time there is a problem, having a dashboard will be better. But if it's not enough hardware ( i know is very limited) i will go for debian or ubuntu server ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Loryx99 · 2023-10-16 14:48 I'm fine with using docker, thanks for your suggestion!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GolemancerVekk · 2023-10-16 15:57 RAM will only be holding you back if you want to run Windows virtual machines. But if you're getting another 16 GB, or if you're just using containers rather than VMs, it should not be a problem. What will you install the OS on? If you don't have a SSD, and if the motherboard supports NVMe, I'd suggest a NVMe SSD as a better first upgrade rather than RAM. Or you can split it between a small capacity SSD and less RAM (4 GB or 8 GB). You should be able to get away with a very small SSD, I'm currently running my system off a 32 GB SSD with plenty to spare. It doesn't *sound* like you'd need VMs so perhaps Proxmox is not necessary (unless you'd like to learn it), and Unraid sounds terribly expensive at this stage for you. IMHO a beginner would be better off learning a generic Linux system and learning to set up and use Docker containers, just to get a feel for running a modern server. Later on you can switch to a more specialized solution when you've figured out your needs and wants better. I'd recommend something like Debian stable + Docker, and learn to install Samba and Immich in Docker containers. That should keep you busy for a while. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- notdoreen · 2023-10-16 16:00 Ubuntu server would be a safe bet. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thisiszeev · 2023-10-16 16:21 The issue you will have is not the operating system but rather the trueNAS software may be resource intensive. The best way to find out is to just try it and see. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thisiszeev · 2023-10-16 18:25 The best thing about starting your selfhosting journey is you now get to learn and experiment. Until you are 200% satisfied with your setup, keep a backup of your files on an external harddrive. But give serious thought to Nextcloud. You can easily incorporate AI tools, one of which is to catalog your photos with tags based on content. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ssagar186 · 2023-10-16 19:48 The best way to get comfortable with the terminal is to not install a gui I think ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Eirikr70 · 2023-10-18 07:58 Yes !