Best approach for having a “remote machine” on a 3rd party network
reddit / selfhosted

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brianrtross · 2023-12-27 02:58

I feel that I have ideas on how this could look but not specific
enough such as what software or perhaps configuration details.

I have a local network that I control with a public IP.

I would like to have a machine that I can deploy to another network
but have this machine act like it is on my local network.

I dont want to place any other requirement on the third party network
like opening ports.

I assume this would be some type of VPN setup?

what would recommended server and client software be?

I would want the remote machine to be headless so I would need the
remote bootup to establish any connection in a secure way ay startup
without prompts.

I would probably be using Ubuntu for the operating systems.

If it helps, one use for this would probably be for hosting an offsite
backup storage for the local site.

Thanks for any ideas/suggestions.

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Senkyou · 2023-12-27 03:18

You could just setup a VPN server on your primary network and have it
connect back to it. Then any devices it needs to communicate with can
also connect to it via that route. That's probably the simplest, most
straightforward, least time-consuming option.

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DeusExMaChino · 2023-12-27 04:31

For true self-hosted, Wireguard is a good solution. Tailscale is not
truly self-hosted, but a bit simpler.

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kaipee · 2023-12-27 04:56

>  .. another network ... act like it is on my local network

What you're describing is a VPN.

Bare in mind this remote machine will have full access to you local
network. You better fully trust the security and access controls on
this remote machine.

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Oujii · 2023-12-27 09:48

Headscale on the other hand is Tailscale but “truly self-hosted”.
Quotation marks because I like your new gatekeeper word.

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Max-_-Power · 2023-12-27 10:47

VPN or reverse SSH tunneling

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Todd1561 · 2023-12-27 12:49

Not necessarily, with proper firewall rules on his/her home firewall
you could limit the remote machine in any way desired.  I do this
exact setup now with a MikroTik router. My home network has full
access to the remote machine but the remote machine has very limited
access back home.

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spoilt999 · 2023-12-27 13:17

Tailscale is the way

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kaipee · 2023-12-27 15:17

OP seems unsure about VPN.

I doubt they are fully aware of VLAN isolation, routing rules, and
physical access & remote system security.