The Home Server Synology Show - CourtneyR.dev's 2nd Brain

The Home Server / Synology Show 🔗 **Source:** [The Home Server / Synology Show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVXFadE8Q9A) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: [home-server, synology, nas, hardware, self-hosting] > author: Syntax > source: YouTube > reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVXFadE8Q9A > date created: 2024-12-30 09:00 > > # 🏷️ Title: The Home Server / Synology Show - Complete Hardware & Software Breakdown >  ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Upgrade NAS networking with $25 USB dongle — 2.5x speed improvement #hardware - [H2] Calculate power consumption for home server hardware — avoid 10x energy costs #planning - [H3] Set up Cloudflare Tunnels for secure remote access — better than port forwarding #security ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📚 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🛡️ DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### 🔗 References - [Synology NAS](https://www.synology.com/) - [Cloudflare Tunnels](https://www.cloudflare.com/products/tunnel/) ## 📝 Summary - Scott and Wes detail their complete home server setups, covering hardware, software, and networking - Both run Synology DS918 Plus NAS units with 16TB storage, upgraded with 2.5Gig networking and SSD caches - Key applications include Jellyfin/Plex for media, Home Assistant, AudioBookshelf, and various Docker containers - Remote access secured through Cloudflare Tunnels rather than port forwarding - Major emphasis on calculating actual power consumption costs when choosing hardware ## 📖 Main Content The hosts share their comprehensive home server configurations, covering everything from hardware selection to application deployment and remote access security. **Hardware Foundation**: Both run Synology DS918 Plus units with 16TB total storage in RAID configuration (10TB usable), upgraded to 16GB RAM despite manufacturer limitations. Key upgrade is $25 USB dongle for 2.5Gig networking, providing 2.5x speed improvement over standard gigabit. **Storage Strategy**: Wes uses dual 256GB SSD drives for read/write cache, significantly improving application performance. Scott runs larger 2TB cache setup. Both maintain automated cloud backups to Backblaze B2. **Power Consumption Analysis**: Critical insight on hardware selection - older Mac Pro draws 250W under normal load (~$300/year), while Mac Mini uses only 7-24W (~$30/year). This 10x difference makes efficiency crucial for 24/7 operation. **Application Stack**: Core applications include Jellyfin/Plex for media streaming, Home Assistant for smart home control, AudioBookshelf for audiobook management, and various automation tools like Prowlarr/Radarr/Sonar for content acquisition. **Remote Access Security**: Cloudflare Tunnels provide secure external access without port forwarding risks. Combined with Cloudflare Access for authentication on applications lacking built-in security. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://youtu.be/AVXFadE8Q9A?t=0) — [H1] Introduction and show scope - Key idea: Comprehensive update on home server setups after 4 years - Evidence: "We did a Synology home server show what probably four years ago and a lot has changed since then" #### ⏱️ [02:30](https://youtu.be/AVXFadE8Q9A?t=150) — [H2] Wes's Synology hardware specifications - Key idea: DS918 Plus with 6 years of upgrades and modifications - Evidence: "I'm running a Synology DS918 Plus... 16 terabytes in it with a RAID setup that works out to just over 10 terabytes" #### ⏱️ [04:15](https://youtu.be/AVXFadE8Q9A?t=255) — [H2] 2.5Gig networking upgrade impact - Key idea: Simple USB dongle provides massive speed improvement - Evidence: "Recently upgraded it to 2 and a half gig networking with a simple like $20 USB dongle which has changed how fast transferring things" #### ⏱️ [06:45](https://youtu.be/AVXFadE8Q9A?t=405) — [H2] SSD cache benefits for applications - Key idea: SSDs dramatically improve application responsiveness and write performance - Evidence: "If you're running applications, there's a read and write that needs to happen... that could be very slow, especially when you're running like apps on them" #### ⏱️ [08:20](https://youtu.be/AVXFadE8Q9A?t=500) — [H2] Cloud backup strategy - Key idea: Automated mirroring to Backblaze B2 for offsite redundancy - Evidence: "I have it auto mirror to back blaze B2... constantly is watching folders and uploading the new versions of those files" #### ⏱️ [10:30](https://youtu.be/AVXFadE8Q9A?t=630) — [H2] Scott's similar setup with larger cache - Key idea: Nearly identical hardware with 2TB cache drives - Evidence: "I have two terabytes of cache... running two one terabyte cache drives" #### ⏱️ [12:45](https://youtu.be/AVXFadE8Q9A?t=765) — [H1] Application stack overview - Key idea: Home Assistant, Jellyfin, AudioBookshelf as core applications - Evidence: "I run Home Assistant for all of my smart home stuff... Jellyfin for all of my movies and TV shows" #### ⏱️ [15:20](https://youtu.be/AVXFadE8Q9A?t=920) — [H2] AudioBookshelf for reclaiming content - Key idea: Self-hosting audiobooks after losing Audible library - Evidence: "I paid for Audible for years and years... I lost all of my things that I had paid credits for" #### ⏱️ [18:00](https://youtu.be/AVXFadE8Q9A?t=1080) — [H2] Scott's Mac Mini + NAS dual setup - Key idea: Separate Mac Mini for compute-intensive tasks like transcoding - Evidence: "Trying to transcode those on the fly on my Synology would just crap out... I installed Plex on my Mac Mini and it transcodes everything" #### ⏱️ [22:15](https://youtu.be/AVXFadE8Q9A?t=1335) — [H1] Power consumption mathematics - Key idea: Dramatic difference in operating costs between old and new hardware - Evidence: "This Mac Pro at normal load... 250 watts... Scott's Mac Mini uses at medium... seven watts" #### ⏱️ [25:30](https://youtu.be/AVXFadE8Q9A?t=1530) — [H2] VM vs Container distinction - Key idea: VMs for full OS isolation, containers for lightweight application deployment - Evidence: "A VM is like running an entire computer... whereas a container is running on your host machine" #### ⏱️ [28:45](https://youtu.be/AVXFadE8Q9A?t=1725) — [H2] Container management approaches - Key idea: Synology GUI vs command-line Docker management - Evidence: "On Synology, there's a Docker app and I just use the GUI... you map your folders, you map your ports" #### ⏱️ [32:20](https://youtu.be/AVXFadE8Q9A?t=1940) — [H1] Cloudflare Tunnels for secure access - Key idea: Tunnels eliminate need for dangerous port forwarding - Evidence: "I have Cloudflared running as a container... the alternative would be for you to go into your router and say this port is going to be open" #### ⏱️ [36:10](https://youtu.be/AVXFadE8Q9A?t=2170) — [H2] Cloudflare Access for authentication - Key idea: Adding auth layer to applications without built-in security - Evidence: "You whitelist your email address your phone number and your GitHub ID and it just it works beautifully" ## 📚 References - [Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage](https://www.backblaze.com/b2/cloud-storage.html) - [Jellyfin Media Server](https://jellyfin.org/) - [AudioBookshelf](https://www.audiobookshelf.org/) - [Home Assistant](https://www.home-assistant.io/) - [Coolify](https://coolify.io/) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - Modern home servers combine NAS storage with application hosting, requiring careful balance of performance, power efficiency, and security - Simple hardware upgrades like network dongles and SSD caches can dramatically improve performance without major investment - Power consumption mathematics are crucial for 24/7 operation - newer efficient hardware pays for itself through reduced electricity costs ## 📰 Newsletter **Transform Your Home Network with Smart Server Strategies** Ready to level up your home setup? Scott and Wes from Syntax just dropped their complete home server playbook, and the insights are game-changing. **The $25 Speed Hack**: A simple USB-to-Ethernet dongle can 2.5x your NAS transfer speeds. Sometimes the best upgrades are the smallest ones. **Power Math Matters**: That old server in your closet might be costing you $300/year in electricity. Modern efficient hardware like Mac Minis use 10x less power and pay for themselves quickly. **Security Without Complexity**: Cloudflare Tunnels eliminate the need for risky port forwarding while providing secure remote access to your applications. Whether you're running media servers, smart home systems, or development environments, understanding these fundamentals will save you time, money, and headaches. Resources: [Synology](https://www.synology.com/), [Cloudflare Tunnels](https://www.cloudflare.com/products/tunnel/), [Jellyfin](https://jellyfin.org/) ## ✅ Action Items #### Community - Contributors: Share home server setups and rack photos on social media for community learning - Maintainers: Develop power consumption calculators for common home server hardware - Sponsors: Create comprehensive hardware comparison guides with real-world usage metrics #### WordPress - Documentation: Add self-hosting guides for WordPress on NAS systems - Community: Organize home lab meetups and equipment swap events - Training: Develop courses on WordPress performance optimization for home servers ## 🧪 Hypotheses - ARM-based servers will become dominant for home use due to power efficiency advantages - Container orchestration will replace VM-heavy deployments for most home server applications - Self-hosting will increase as streaming service fragmentation worsens - Local AI compute will drive next generation of home server hardware purchases ### 📊 Methodology - Power consumption testing: Measure actual wattage under idle, normal, and peak loads - Performance benchmarking: Compare transfer speeds before/after networking upgrades - Cost analysis: Track monthly electricity costs for different hardware configurations ### ❓ Questions - Will SSD prices drop enough to make all-SSD NAS systems economically viable? - How will local AI processing requirements change home server hardware selection? - What's the optimal balance between local storage and cloud backup costs? ### 🔮 Future Research - Comparative analysis of ARM vs x86 performance for common home server workloads - Security implications of exposing home services to internet via different methods - Economic modeling of self-hosting vs cloud services across different usage patterns ### 💡 Implications - Practice: Home server efficiency directly impacts monthly operating costs and performance - Security: Proper remote access setup crucial for maintaining security while enabling convenience - Education: Power consumption mathematics should be standard part of hardware selection training - Funding: Long-term electricity costs often exceed initial hardware investment ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 8.5 #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Hardware photos, network diagrams, GUI screenshots - Improve: Power consumption charts, performance comparison graphs, setup diagrams #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Podcast format with detailed verbal explanations - Improve: Audio-only version with enhanced descriptions of visual elements #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Clear definitions, hardware analogies, step-by-step explanations - Improve: Glossary of technical terms, comparison stories #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: Hands-on upgrade procedures, configuration walkthroughs - Improve: Interactive hardware selection tool, setup checklists #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Power consumption calculations, performance metrics, decision trees - Improve: Cost-benefit analysis tools, ROI calculators #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: Community sharing encouragement, collaborative setup discussions - Improve: Home lab user groups, equipment sharing networks #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Detailed individual setup guides, self-assessment questions - Improve: Personal decision worksheets, private planning tools #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: Energy efficiency focus, environmental impact considerations - Improve: Sustainability metrics, green technology comparisons ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Clear heading structure, descriptive links - Improve: Alt text for hardware images, table headers for specifications #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Standard video controls, accessible timestamps - Improve: Keyboard shortcuts for jumping between topics #### Contrast and readability - Present: Standard YouTube player contrast - Improve: High-contrast transcript option #### Text resizing and reflow - Present: Responsive video player - Improve: Scalable transcript text #### Media and captions - Present: Auto-generated captions available - Improve: Human-reviewed captions, downloadable transcript #### Forms and interactions - Present: Standard video interaction controls - Improve: Accessible bookmark/favorite features ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: North American perspective on electricity costs and hardware availability - Improve: International power pricing examples, global hardware sourcing options #### Inclusive language - Present: Technical jargon well-explained, conversational tone - Improve: Define more acronyms, avoid slang terms #### Neurodiversity support - Present: Clear topic transitions, consistent structure - Improve: Chapter markers for easy navigation, summary sections #### Representation - Present: Two male hosts sharing similar setups - Improve: Diverse guest perspectives, varied use cases #### Psychological safety - Present: Encouraging experimentation, acknowledging learning curves - Improve: Beginner-friendly alternatives, failure normalization ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Deductive strength: Power consumption mathematics provide clear cost comparisons - Inductive strength: Personal experience generalizes well to similar use cases - Causal reasoning: Direct cause-effect relationships between upgrades and performance improvements - Analogical strength: Good analogies between different hardware approaches #### Fallacies - Survivorship bias: Focus on successful configurations without discussing failed attempts - False economy: Emphasis on initial cost savings without full lifecycle analysis #### Tone of voice - Overall tone: Enthusiastic and encouraging while maintaining technical accuracy, conversational style makes complex topics approachable ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - Deny: No denials present - hosts acknowledge limitations and failures - Attack: No attacks on critics or alternative approaches - Reverse victim/offender: Not applicable to technical content - Emotional cues: Excitement about technology balanced with practical warnings about costs ## 🎯 Conclusion Home servers have evolved from hobbyist projects to practical household infrastructure. The key insights are mathematical: power consumption costs often exceed hardware costs over time, making efficiency --- ## Full Transcript [00:00] Welcome to Syntax. Today we're talking [00:02] about our home server setups. What we're [00:05] running, what we're running on them, why [00:07] we have them, how much data we got going [00:09] on, what's going on with that data, and [00:11] just generally what's up with running [00:14] home server stuff, what's a good process [00:16] for doing that, and all kinds of stuff. [00:18] My name is Scott Tolinsky. I'm a [00:19] developer from Denver. With me as always [00:20] is Wes Boss. What's up, Wes? [00:23] >> I'm excited to talk about this. I feel [00:25] like we we did a Synology home server [00:28] show what probably four years ago and a [00:31] lot has changed since then and like it's [00:35] I feel like we're always talking about [00:36] our home servers and we're like we got [00:37] to do a whole show laying it all out [00:40] especially this is this is going live [00:42] during the holidays. You got a little [00:45] bit of time over the holidays. Why not [00:47] spend it installing virtual machines and [00:50] banging your head against the wall to [00:51] make stuff work? [00:53] >> Of course. Yes. Why [laughter] not? [00:55] >> All right. So, the whole idea with this [00:57] episode is we're going to first talk [00:59] about like the hardware, why you might [01:02] even want a home server, do you also use [01:04] it for backing up? Um, and then as well [01:06] as like what what software do you run on [01:08] it, what kinds of apps are you running [01:10] on it? Both like handy stuff as well as [01:14] like media, you know, Plex or Jellyfin [01:16] and downloading things. And we'll have [01:19] to have CJ on at some point because I [01:21] know CJ has a pretty [01:24] >> crazy downloading setup which is spans [01:27] many countries. [laughter] It's pretty [01:29] cool. And like also how to expose them [01:31] to the internet as well. Like how do you [01:33] access to these things when you're out [01:34] and about? [01:35] >> So [01:37] first one uses why do we use home [01:40] servers and and what is the stack? So [01:43] maybe let's first start with the actual [01:45] hardware that we're running ourselves. [01:47] Um, so I'm running a Synology DS918 [01:52] Plus. This is several many years old. I [01:56] probably have run it for about 6 years [01:58] now. Um, I have 16 terabytes in it uh [02:01] with a RAID setup that works out to just [02:03] over 10 terabytes of actual backup [02:06] space. Over the years, I've upgraded it [02:08] to 16 gigs of RAM. Even though it says [02:10] you can't do that, it works just fine. I [02:12] recently upgraded it to 2 and a half gig [02:15] networking um with a simple like $20 USB [02:19] dongle which is unbelievably has changed [02:22] how fast transferring things to it uh is [02:26] obviously like two and a half times [02:27] faster. It used to be a gig wired. Um [02:30] did you end up doing that too, Scott? [02:32] >> I did. I did the uh USB dongle. I [02:34] dongled it and uh yeah, big improvement [02:37] there. Absolutely. [02:38] >> That's amazing. It's so anyone who [02:41] doesn't know there's a like a real tech [02:43] chip and most like USB to Ethernet [02:47] adapters use this chip inside of it and [02:50] you can simply just install this package [02:51] on your Synology. Um and that will be [02:54] the driver for it and then you simply [02:55] just plug it in, hook up your your [02:58] Ethernet to it. Um and then the old ones [03:00] you can keep plugged in as well should [03:02] that ever fail or or get bumped. And [03:04] then you just set the 2.5 gig one as the [03:06] the priority. And uh and then your [03:09] networking is good. I fussed around with [03:11] the like dual what is it? SMB version [03:14] three allows you to like parallel send. [03:17] I could not get it working for the life [03:19] of me. And if I would have known that [03:21] just spending $25 on this dongle would [03:24] have [03:25] >> two and a halfxed my speed. I would have [03:27] I should have known that earlier. [03:29] >> Yeah. [03:30] >> But I I also I slap two 256 gig SSD [03:34] drives in it. So, if you're running [03:36] applications, there's a read and write [03:39] that needs to happen and you have like [03:40] these like actual hard disk drives that [03:43] need to spin and find the files on the [03:45] drive and and bring them back. And that [03:47] could be very slow, especially when [03:48] you're running like apps on them. I [03:50] specifically noticed it when I'm using [03:52] like uh jellyfin [03:54] >> Mhm. [03:54] >> and you have frequently [03:57] accessed uh files like thumbnails and [04:00] JavaScript files and uh CSS all all of [04:04] those things that when you're using an [04:05] application need to be served up [04:07] quickly. Um as well as there's like a [04:09] write cache as well where um if you're [04:11] writing data to your SSD, you can write [04:15] it to an SSD much faster than you can to [04:18] the hard disk drive. So it'll sort of [04:19] like ingest it quickly and then just [04:22] throw it over to the slower drives as it [04:24] has time to do so. So that was a big [04:26] upgrade um in making things feel faster [04:29] as well as like the whole dashboard [04:31] feels a lot more snappy since I did [04:33] that. Um and then I have it auto mirror [04:37] to back blaze B2. So Back Blaze B2 is [04:40] just a a spot where you can host files [04:42] or upload files and I use a app on the [04:45] Synology called HyperBackup. And what [04:47] that does is it just basically just [04:50] constantly is watching folders and and [04:53] uploading the new versions of those [04:55] files. So that way I have both a [04:57] Synology local as well as I have a [04:59] backup in the cloud. I and now that I [05:01] have fast internet at my house and [05:04] decent internet at the cottage, I have [05:06] been tempted to do a second Sonology [05:10] >> at the cottage and then you can mirror [05:12] them. [05:13] >> Mirror them. Wow. But like that's a lot [05:15] of money to spend on hard drives whereas [05:18] like cloud hosting is very cheap. [05:21] >> So I run a very similar setup to you. [05:23] Obviously we have the same uh Synology [05:25] that we've had for a long time. I have [05:28] 16 terabytes also. The big difference [05:31] for me is that I have two terabytes of [05:34] cache. So I have a big old cache. [05:37] >> Man, [05:38] >> running two one one terabyte cache [05:40] drives. [05:41] >> That's good. So that just hangs on to [05:43] more stuff for longer. [05:45] >> Hangs on to more stuff for longer. [05:46] >> And I guess you can when you are [05:47] transferring stuff to it that that right [05:49] cache is a lot bigger. [05:51] >> Yeah. Quite a bit bigger. Yeah. So that [05:53] that's pretty much the only difference. [05:54] I I you know I've been running out of [05:56] space on mine because of how much video [05:58] I upload. Like Yeah, it it's getting [06:00] absurd. So I've been actually going [06:02] through and deleting old video project [06:06] files on mine manually and finding [06:08] stuff. Even like right now I just ran [06:11] and we'll talk about some of the [06:12] software running but I just ran like an [06:13] indexing on copy party on my on my [06:16] Synology and I'm just like going through [06:18] and seeing like client projects that I [06:20] had that had like [06:23] >> 20 copies of every image or 40 copies of [06:26] >> Yeah. Like I have old WordPress projects [06:28] that are like probably four or five gigs [06:29] and I'm like h should I really be [06:31] spending like what eight cents a month [06:33] to to store this? [06:35] >> Well that's what I was thinking. And I [06:35] was like, "Oh, I should get another [06:36] drive." And then I'm like, "You know [06:37] what? How about I just go through go [06:39] through it and actually delete my stuff [06:41] cuz I don't need more space. I don't [06:43] need more space." Yeah. [06:45] >> What's interesting about the drives is [06:47] that we're at a spot now where it's [06:49] almost cheap enough just to slap SSDs in [06:53] the NAS itself. And that would make it [06:56] both quiet. Like you can't put this NAS [06:58] in like your office or bedroom. It's [07:00] loud as hell because it's constant like [07:03] writing files to it. But and then it's [07:06] also like slow. So I'm at a point now [07:08] where I was like if I built a new one, [07:10] would I go for like 80 terabytes of like [07:15] slower hard disk drives or would I try [07:17] to go like 8 terabytes and go allin with [07:20] SSDs? [07:22] >> I want both for not very expensive. [07:25] That's what I want. [07:26] >> Yeah. Right. [laughter] Right. [07:28] >> Exactly. [07:28] >> Uh let's talk about like apps that we [07:31] actually run on our home servers. So, [07:34] like we're talking about Synology here, [07:36] but this we'll talk about running a home [07:38] server on literally anything. Scott runs [07:40] a Mac Mini. I run Home Assistant for all [07:43] of my smart home stuff, which I'm a big [07:46] fan of that. I run Jellyfin for all of [07:49] my movies and TV shows. I really like [07:52] that because when we go to the cottage, [07:54] we have Starlink and it's very slow [07:57] internet. Well, it's not very slow, but [07:59] it's it's relatively slow. Um, so what [08:01] we'll do is we'll just download stuff [08:04] >> at home where the internet is fiber and [08:07] then we'll be able to stream it to the [08:08] cottage at a lower bit rate like on [08:11] demand and then it's it's much quicker [08:12] to be able to to download and watch a [08:15] show that way versus trying to download [08:17] it right when you're at the cottage or [08:19] stream it from some website. [08:21] >> Yeah. Yeah. Word. [08:23] >> I also have audio bookshelf I recently [08:25] got which I find really helpful as well. [08:28] I paid for Audible for years and years [08:30] and years and I lost all of my I was [08:32] really upset that I like lost all of my [08:34] things that I had paid credits for. [08:37] They're like all gone. I don't I don't [08:38] know if that's normal or not when you [08:40] stop paying for Audible. Your credits go [08:43] away and you lose all the books that you [08:45] paid for over time. But I was kind of [08:46] cheesed at that cuz there's a couple [08:48] books I wanted to go back and relisten [08:50] to. So I got audio bookshelf uh to [08:53] reclaim those books as well as like the [08:55] kids and and stuff. They they like [08:57] listen to audiobooks. [08:59] >> Yeah. And audiobookshelf is great for [09:00] podcasts, too. Um I haven't used it for [09:03] that, but I know it works well for that. [09:05] >> Oh yeah. The one thing I like I paid for [09:07] a audiobookshelf iOS app um because you [09:10] can download locally and I I did that [09:12] right before I went on a flight without [09:14] internet and I love that cuz then I can [09:16] just listen to them [09:17] >> listen to them constantly. And I'm [09:19] slowly getting into Prowler, Radar, [09:23] Sonar, all of those. Um, but I I don't [09:27] know. It's it's a lot of work to get [09:29] into that. So, [09:31] >> what are those about his setup? So, [09:32] Prowler is a torrent indexing. Radar and [09:36] sonar are um like auto downloaders for [09:41] TV shows and movies, things like that, [09:43] music. So, they're just like a whole [09:47] setup to get into it. But if I am like [09:50] streaming stuff, I'm I'm just using [09:52] either Jellyfin and just downloading the [09:54] torrent directly on on the the Naz or [09:58] I'm just using something called uh [10:00] Streamo where you just you stream it [10:02] directly from there and uh that's [10:04] [clears throat] pretty sweet. I do [10:05] occasionally use it for hosting like [10:07] node applications and whatnot. I was [10:10] running Koolifi as a VM. We'll talk [10:13] about that in just a second, but it the [10:15] it was not fast enough to host all the [10:17] applications that I wanted. So, I ended [10:20] up having to pause it. It was eating up [10:21] all my RAM. So, I was like, I need to [10:24] build I think what I'm going to do soon [10:26] is just build like a dedicated local [10:29] server that's not for like NAS and and [10:33] media and stuff like that, but simply [10:34] just for hosting my projects because [10:36] like [10:36] >> interesting. Yeah, I have several I have [10:38] several like WordPress projects that I'm [10:40] still paying for for hosting. And I was [10:43] like, I probably they don't get a lot of [10:45] traffic. You could throw Cloudflare in [10:47] front of it for caching. I was like, I [10:49] should probably just put this on the box [10:52] in my house and and serve it up from [10:54] there. I probably save a couple hundred [10:56] bucks a year by doing that. And then I [10:58] don't use it for surveillance. I was [11:01] dipping into that at one point or like [11:03] running your own surveillance software. [11:05] Um, but I've been using UniFi Protect, [11:07] which has a hard drive in my house and [11:09] rec just records constantly. And I that [11:12] that app is sick. It's so fast. It's so [11:15] good. You can scrub through it. It's [11:17] like so much better. If you've ever [11:19] fussed with like a a ring or like I [11:22] still have lots of Wise cameras, you [11:24] have to look at the clips and try scrub [11:26] around. [11:27] >> The UniFi Protect stuff is like 4,000 [11:30] times better. [11:31] >> Yeah. I I haven't gotten into any of [11:33] that stuff that I I'd be interested in, [11:35] but I like would require so much work in [11:37] my house to be able to wire those [11:39] cameras up and stuff. [11:40] >> Just getting the the A bunch of them are [11:43] like just plug in, you know, they're [11:45] Wi-Fi, but the best ones are are PoE. [11:48] >> I don't even have like good locations [11:50] though for plugs and stuff, right? Like [11:52] >> Oh, yeah. [11:53] >> Yeah. It's a pain. Uh for me, the stuff [11:55] that I run, I run on my Naz. So, I have [11:59] two home servers. One of which is a Mac [12:01] Mini that you can maybe see over here [12:04] that's running all the time and that's [12:06] connected to the NAS obviously, but it [12:08] is also have uh my NAS which I run [12:12] things on and I've actually been slowly [12:14] moving most of my things over to the NAS [12:16] or the Mac Mini. The big problem is is [12:19] that I don't have a container management [12:21] software solution set up yet. So I'm [12:24] just kind of yolo running stuff from the [12:26] term or from docker like as I go and [12:30] then therefore if things are crashing or [12:32] if I need to restart I got to go [12:34] manually rerun everything on my uh [12:36] Synology I pretty much run [12:38] audiobookshelf [12:40] uh we have a lot of audiobooks for for [12:42] my wife and myself. I run Qbit torrent [12:44] on there. That app sucks but it's like [12:47] the most reliable one. And I do have [12:50] Prowler radar sonar. Is it Prowar? [12:54] >> Yeah. [12:55] >> Yeah, I have those installed and [12:57] running, but I do I couldn't tell you if [12:59] I've ever opened them up. Maybe. I think [13:01] I probably have at some point. [13:02] >> Yeah, we're at we're at this weird spot [13:04] where like I was like really into piracy [13:07] for many years as a kid, but like the [13:09] streaming services got so good that [13:11] >> What are you talking about piracy? [13:13] >> I stopped. Well, for Linux ISO, sorry, [13:15] not piracy. [13:16] >> Downloading Linux ISOs there. You could [13:18] stream them very easily. So, for like [13:21] many years, I just didn't fuss with any [13:23] of this stuff because it was just way [13:24] easier to pay for three or four apps uh [13:27] a month. But it's starting to get like [13:30] it's obnoxious. Or we pay for like Apple [13:33] TV and Netflix and Prime and like we pay [13:36] for like four or five and often I can't [13:38] get the stuff I want, which is so [13:40] frustrating. [13:42] >> So, if that's the case, then I I find it [13:44] on a Linux website. [13:46] >> Yes, possibly. Uh, you know, I I uh then [13:50] pretty much run everything else on my [13:53] Mac Mini for like media streaming. The [13:55] problem I was having was like trying to [13:57] do transcoding of like really large [14:01] Blu-ray discs that I ripped from my own [14:03] personal Blu-ray collection. Trying to [14:05] transcode those on the fly on my [14:07] Synology would just crap out in any of [14:09] them, whether that was Jelly Fin Plex or [14:13] uh MB. And then you know what? After [14:15] dealing with JellyFin and dealing with [14:18] MB and trying to then get the bootleg [14:22] install for the app on my Samsung TV for [14:25] the Jelly Fin, I was just like, you know [14:27] what? I'm going back to Plex. And I [14:30] installed Plex on my Mac Mini and it [14:33] transcodes everything and it works. It [14:36] works great. I don't fuss it. The app on [14:39] the uh TV is actually very very good and [14:42] everything just works and I'm very happy [14:44] with that setup. So the only thing I [14:46] haven't really done is configured it to [14:49] run outside of my network. We're pretty [14:51] much just using an internal [14:52] >> talk about that. I got a solution for [14:54] you. [14:55] >> Well, I have I have solutions for other [14:56] things. I actually run quite a bit on my [14:59] stuff outside of the network. Uh one of [15:00] those things is a Minecraft server. So, [15:02] one of the things I run on my Mac Mini [15:04] is a Minecraft server for my my son and [15:07] his friends to all join on. And it's [15:09] actually cool. Minecraft has got like [15:12] >> really interesting like hacking scene [15:13] obviously, but like there's the Bedrock [15:15] version and the Java version. The [15:17] Bedrock is the one that installs on like [15:19] the Nintendo Switch or iPads. And then [15:22] there's the Java version which is like a [15:24] completely it's a different game to some [15:26] extent even though it's the same game. [15:29] and somebody wrote like a translation [15:31] layer between the two. So I'm running a [15:33] translation layer. So now you can join [15:34] on this and have a configure and update [15:40] and I'm now managing a Minecraft server [15:42] for a bunch of uh [15:44] >> uh second graders, third graders. He's [15:46] in third grade now. Crazy. Yeah, [15:47] >> that Minecraft stuff is super [15:49] interesting to me. I need to try it out [15:50] cuz every now and then I run upon like a [15:53] somebody trying to port Minecraft server [15:56] to Rust [15:57] >> or you know trying to port it to Go and [15:59] like that seems like a rabbit hole to go [16:01] down but it seems like a interesting [16:04] compute problem and apparently the like [16:06] Java version was just an absolute [16:08] nightmare so it's not written very well. [16:11] Yeah, I think that's since changed over [16:13] time with the amount of money that is [16:16] coming in and out of Minecraft. But [16:19] yeah, no, I it's actually it's a lot of [16:21] fun. A lot of fun to run that server. [16:22] So, [16:23] >> let's talk about actual hardware. So, we [16:25] we talked about like what we're running, [16:27] but what are your options as well? So, [16:29] you're thinking about running a home [16:30] server. What do you possibly need? [16:32] Right. You you need some actual physical [16:34] hardware. um which could be an old PC, [16:38] could be an old MacBook, um could be an [16:40] old rack server. You can run Linux on [16:43] these. You you don't necessarily have to [16:46] worry about what OS is is running on [16:48] these things, right? Like obviously a [16:50] lot of them are like just custom Linux [16:52] distros, but you can you can run Mac OS, [16:54] you can run Windows, and a lot of the [16:56] stuff, as long as you have the ability [16:58] to run VMs, [17:00] >> they will run very well on these. The [17:02] one thing I do want to say here is that [17:04] like be careful with older tech. So [17:07] >> like right beside me here, I have a 2009 [17:10] Mac Pro. Like [17:12] >> beefy awesome like computer still pretty [17:15] good. I can install the latest OS on it. [17:18] You can upgrade the graphics card. And I [17:20] was like working on it a couple months [17:22] ago and then I was like, you know what? [17:24] This is probably too expensive to run. [17:28] Um because these old Macs, especially a [17:30] lot of them that have Intel chips in [17:32] them, [17:32] >> draw a lot of power. [17:33] >> They use a ton of energy, right? And [17:35] like I looked it up. This Mac Pro at [17:38] like a normal load, you know, not idle [17:41] but not like full fully kicked out. It's [17:44] 250 watts, which is about at at Ontario [17:47] electricity prices, which is electricity [17:50] is very cheap in in Ontario because we [17:52] have a huge ass waterfall, is about 90 [17:54] cents a day, right? [17:57] >> Yeah. And if you Scott's Mac Mini uses [18:01] at medium, not at idle, it uses seven [18:04] watts, right? Think about that. Like 250 [18:07] versus 7. And at a normal load, it uses [18:09] about 20 24 watts. So that's 10 times [18:14] less energy. So at my cheap Ontario [18:17] prices, that's about 300 bucks a year. [18:20] And like what's what's a Mac Mini cost? [18:22] Like 600 700 bucks, [18:24] >> even less if you get the the the one. [18:26] >> So refurbished. [music] [18:27] And if you want to see all of the errors [18:29] in your application, you'll want to [18:31] check out Sentry at centry.io/sintax. [18:36] You don't want a production application [18:37] out there that, well, you have no [18:39] visibility into in case something is [18:41] blowing up and you might not even know [18:43] it. So, head on over to centry.io/sax. [18:46] Again, we've been using this tool for a [18:48] long time and it totally rules. All [18:50] right, [18:52] it makes sense. The math maths, folks. [18:54] go out and buy yourself a Mac Mini if [18:56] you're looking to do a home server [18:58] because you run that thing like you have [19:00] to run these things constantly and it's [19:02] it uses quite a bit of energy. Even I [19:04] did the math on my Synology one at one [19:06] point and it was over 150 bucks a year [19:10] to keep it going which is you can pay [19:12] for a lot of cloud storage or uh or uh [19:15] ARM processing for that. [19:18] >> Yeah. No, absolutely. Huh. Glad you did [19:21] the math on that. I uh don't have the [19:23] patience for that. Do you know that [19:24] that's my pet peeve with people is that [19:28] they don't do the math so often? Like we [19:30] have an electric vehicle. [19:32] >> Yeah. [19:32] >> And uh so often you come across posts [19:35] being like [19:36] >> cost so much to to do it or like have [19:39] you noticed it in your electrical bill [19:41] or like that's how everyone gauges [19:43] whether the electric it's like you don't [19:44] need to notice it in your bill. [19:46] Literally do the math. You can figure [19:48] out how much you pay per kilowatt hour. [19:50] You could figure out how much these [19:51] things consume, how many kilowatt hours [19:54] they are using, and then you can [19:56] multiply those things and figure out how [19:58] much it costs to maintain it. These are [20:00] not unknowns. You don't need to hear [20:02] from somebody that something is very [20:04] expensive to run. You can literally [20:06] figure it out. [20:07] >> That's shocking. [20:08] >> That's [20:09] >> I [laughter] think it's going to blow [20:10] people's brains. [20:11] >> I'm going to I'm going to That's the [20:12] hill I'm going to die on is people not [20:14] doing the math on simple things like [20:16] that. [20:17] >> Yeah. [20:17] >> The same with like leaving lights on. I [20:19] leave lights on all the time. I don't [20:20] give a I did the math. It's not a lot. [20:22] >> LEDs. Yeah, LEDs. This isn't [20:24] incandescent bulb territory anymore. [20:26] >> No. [20:27] >> Yeah. [20:27] >> No, that's that's true. You don't need [20:29] Obviously, turn them off at night, but [20:31] like I'm not one of those people being [20:32] like, if you leave a room, turn the [20:34] lights off. [20:35] >> Yeah. [20:35] >> It doesn't it doesn't matter [20:36] >> for us either. Yeah, I [clears throat] [20:38] agree. I'm with you on that one. [20:39] >> Yeah, that's never been never been [20:41] something I've been concerned with since [20:42] we got these fast bulbs. [laughter] [20:45] >> Software. um you need some sort of [20:48] software to manage either or both [20:51] virtual machines and containers. So [20:54] let's talk about the difference between [20:55] those two. So a VM is like running an [20:58] entire computer, virtual computer on [21:00] your machine, right? It has its own hard [21:03] drive system, you know, virtual hard [21:05] drive system. It has its own networking. [21:07] It has all of that stuff. Whereas uh a [21:10] container is running on your host [21:12] machine. A container is like Docker. [21:14] That's the most popular one, right? It's [21:16] running on your host machine. So, it's [21:18] running on your laptop or whatever, but [21:19] it's it's has a limited container access [21:22] to things that are outside of it. So, [21:24] you still have to install things to that [21:27] container, and you still have to uh do [21:29] that, but you're exposing things like [21:31] like folders and ports and networking [21:34] from the host machine to the actual [21:36] container. So, a VM is going to be more [21:39] powerful uh but more resource intensive. [21:42] So in my case, I was trying to run [21:44] Coolifi as a VM and I was running [21:46] several other VMs as well and um it was [21:49] becoming a bit too much. Whereas like I [21:51] can run lots and lots of Docker machines [21:54] on my Synology, no problem because those [21:57] are a lot less resource inensive. What [21:59] would you use a VM for? The ones that [22:02] I'm using, so like Home Assistant OS. Um [22:04] so many of the plugins in Home Assistant [22:07] are themselves Docker containers. So you [22:10] can't Docker inside of a Docker. So you [22:13] need something that's going to supervise [22:15] and orchestrate all of these Docker [22:17] containers. Um, and it needs to be at a [22:20] higher level. Same with like Koolifi. [22:21] Koolifi is just you can install it to [22:23] Linux, right? But you can install it as [22:25] a VM. So I installed like a Abuntu or [22:28] something VM. I ran it like that and [22:30] then I installed Kulifi on there. Um and [22:33] then Koolifi for those who don't know is [22:36] a what self-hosted [22:38] kind of like run your own versell. You [22:40] can deploy multiple applications to it. [22:42] You can have grids of many machines. You [22:44] can spin them up. You have a networking [22:47] layer. [22:47] >> Coolifies. I love Koolifi. [22:49] >> Koolifi is fantastic. So if you want to [22:51] like run like a node uh you want to run [22:54] like a node app and have them build and [22:56] and get integration all that stuff but [22:59] you want to self-host it not necessarily [23:01] just like at your house if you want to [23:03] run it on like some servers like on [23:05] Hzner or something like that [23:06] >> you can do that with Koolifi um and you [23:09] can install Kulifi as a VM or you can [23:12] install Linux as a VM install Kify on [23:15] that [23:16] >> and then containers just simply a Docker [23:19] container right I I mean, and and so [23:22] many things run inside of containers [23:24] from pretty much any of these apps. But [23:26] if you have something like Synology, [23:27] there's container management built in. [23:29] Do you do anything specifically for [23:31] container management? Like I've been [23:33] looking into some systems like uh here's [23:37] a Mac app called Orb Stack that is [23:40] supposed to be like a nice one. I I I've [23:42] heard of all these different systems, [23:43] but I don't run anything for managing [23:45] containers [23:46] >> on Synology. There's a Docker app and I [23:49] I just use the guey. So you log in [23:51] >> and you click [23:53] >> click go on the thing. You you map your [23:55] your folders, you map your ports, um and [23:58] then if the the thing reboots, it will [23:59] automatically restart your containers [24:01] from their last state or it will just [24:03] boot them fresh depending on on what [24:05] settings you have. So that's all I have [24:07] on there. And then and then on the [24:08] Synology as well, they have a whole like [24:10] virtual machine. So similar to if you've [24:13] ever used like a virtual box on the Mac [24:15] where you can install Linux ISOs and [24:18] whatnot. So, as a VM, I'm running I was [24:20] running Koolifi and Home Assistant OS [24:22] and then all of the other apps that I [24:26] was running were were running as Docker [24:27] containers. [24:28] >> Yeah, same. Yeah. And for me, even for [24:30] me, for Home Assistant, I have it on a [24:32] little Raspberry Pi just on its own [24:34] thing. [24:35] >> Oh, yeah. So, it's it's it's not even [24:37] virtual. It's literally its own [24:38] hardware. [24:39] >> Right. So other options if you've got a [24:41] piece of hardware and you want to run it [24:43] on there you don't want to run like [24:45] obviously you can run Mac Linux Windows [24:47] plus Docker and Virtual Box or some [24:50] other VM software but Proxmox is a [24:52] really popular one unrade hexos is [24:55] another interesting one that seems to be [24:57] coming up. There's a lot of these like [25:00] home server OSS that you can sort of [25:03] take a look at. Some of them are more [25:06] towards the NAS side of things. Like [25:08] Synology is a NAS with the ability to [25:10] run apps on it. And then a lot of these [25:13] other ones are uh they're not a NAS at [25:15] all. They're just simply a home server [25:17] that you can run apps on. And it it it [25:20] does a lot of nice stuff for you. [25:21] There's like a guey you can log in. You [25:23] know, you're not in the terminal with [25:24] all of this stuff. much as I am a [25:27] terminal head, [25:28] >> I like being able to just log into a [25:31] guey and and click the buttons when I [25:32] need. [25:33] >> I kind of need that or want that in my [25:35] in my life. There's so there's such a [25:37] massive YouTube uh community of people [25:41] sharing these tools that I it's like too [25:43] overwhelming for me when I look into it [25:45] and there's just like this and then this [25:46] and then this and then this and then [25:48] this and I'm just going I don't know [25:50] what to pick. Just I want something [25:52] easy. Yeah. [25:53] >> Let's talk about exposing it to the [25:54] internet. So, you run all these [25:56] applications, but you want access to [25:58] them when you're out of the house. Um, [26:00] but you also don't want random people [26:02] having access to your applications if [26:04] there's no off. So, what what's your [26:06] move for that, Scott? My move is [26:09] Cloudflare tunnels pretty much [26:10] exclusively. So I have on my Synology I [26:14] have Cloudflared [26:16] running as a container and then I use [26:19] tunnels pretty much for everything which [26:21] it ends up being really nice and easy [26:23] because if you have that Cloudflared [26:25] installed you have it installed on your [26:27] computer and it's running you're really [26:28] just saying point this IP to this domain [26:32] you can put it behind a username and [26:34] password if you want to have another [26:36] layer of protection in front of it. So, [26:38] a little Cloudflare window will pop up [26:40] and make you sign in uh before you can [26:43] have access to that resource. But [26:44] Cloudflare tunnels are great because the [26:47] alternative would be for you to go into [26:50] your router and say, "All right, this [26:53] port is going to be open to the internet [26:56] with my IP." And [27:00] I personally am not enough of a security [27:04] person to really want to manage that or [27:07] think about the consequences of that. [27:09] >> Forwarding ports is not the move. [27:10] >> Forwarding ports is not the move. So for [27:12] me, just being able to establish that [27:14] tunnel and make it nice and easy. Uh [27:17] static IPs for the stuff that I'm going [27:19] to be uh connecting and then that's it [27:22] is great. A big fan of that. [27:24] >> Yeah. So I am also using Cloudflare [27:26] Tunnel. So, I run Cloudflare Duh. That's [27:30] the the the Damon that runs on your [27:33] computer and will proxy traffic from a [27:37] domain name. So, I have a I have a [27:39] domain name that every single app is a [27:42] is a subdomain. So, I have like [27:43] sonology. [27:45] Photos. [27:47] And by running that, a lot of these [27:50] things like Home Assistant, whatever, [27:52] they will give you the ability to [27:55] install a plugin that is Cloudflare [27:56] Tunnels, but I run it as a Docker [27:58] container. And what that does [28:00] >> is it allows me to proxy anything on my [28:05] home network. So it doesn't have to be [28:07] running on the Synology. So I run other [28:09] stuff that has local servers. Like I [28:11] have six or seven instances of WLED that [28:16] control like the Christmas lights on my [28:18] house and uh the the mirror gym, all of [28:21] that stuff. And I often want to be able [28:23] to access the Christmas lights when I'm [28:25] away, especially because if I go to the [28:26] end of my driveway, I I lose Wi-Fi, so I [28:29] need to be able to access it through the [28:30] LTE on my phone. [28:31] >> Yeah. So, Cloudflare tunnels, you simply [28:35] just go into the Cloudflare uh guey and [28:38] you say, "All right, point this [28:41] subdomain to this IP address and port." [28:45] And it might just be localhost, which [28:47] means it's running on the same machine [28:49] as Cloudflare that's running on my NAS. [28:51] Um, or it's going to be another IP [28:54] address that exists on your your home [28:56] network. Um, another one is um 3D [28:59] printer. I have a what is it? Flash [29:02] Forge printer with a camera on it. Um, [29:05] and I'm running like a third party [29:07] firmware on it. So, I'm not using their [29:08] cloud service. Interesting. [29:10] >> So, and if I want to be able to monitor [29:12] the print when I'm away, I simply just [29:15] expose that out via my Cloudflare [29:18] tunnel. [29:19] >> So, did you say you have it installed on [29:22] your router? [29:23] >> No, I have it installed as a Docker [29:26] image on my NAS. Okay. Um, and basically [29:29] >> because my NAS has access to the home [29:32] network, [29:33] >> it can then it can then proxy outside [29:36] internet traffic to anywhere on my home [29:38] network. [29:38] >> You know what? I I have it running on my [29:40] Mac Mini and my NAS and that's probably [29:42] not required. [29:44] >> Probably not. The thing is with with [29:47] running it on each machine is that you [29:50] don't need to make sure that your [29:51] applications are exposed to your your [29:52] home network. So if you're running like [29:54] a V app, [29:55] >> you need to explicitly [29:57] use the d-host flag and then that will [30:00] give you an IP address and a port and [30:02] then you can then forward that. So I do [30:04] run I run Cloudflared on my Mac like my [30:08] laptop here. [30:08] >> Okay, you do. [30:10] >> And I use that just so I can turn my [30:12] local on and off because every now and [30:13] then I'll want to expose something and [30:15] I'll just write I'll just type [30:17] cloudflared tunnel localhost whatever [30:20] the port is and then it it goes to [30:22] local.west westboss.com and then that's [30:24] exposed to the the greater world. Um, [30:27] but then things like my my jellyfin, my [30:30] WLED, all of my local apps that are [30:33] running on my home server, those are [30:35] just constantly running with with the [30:37] Cloudflare Damon. [30:38] >> Interesting. [30:39] >> Now, access. So most of these apps will [30:43] have their own O built in you know like [30:46] uh Jellyfin will have username and [30:48] password home assistant will have [30:50] username and password but some of them [30:52] don't like especially if you're just [30:53] building an app and you're running it [30:56] yourself and you don't have any O in [30:58] front of your application how do you [31:00] protect that from the the wider internet [31:03] so for that I use something called [31:04] Cloudflare access and Cloudflare access [31:07] is essentially just you just put it in [31:09] front of your tunnel you have to [31:10] configure some rules around it depending [31:13] on like sometimes you want API endpoints [31:15] to be hit without having O like for [31:18] example jellyfin [31:19] >> if you want like a jellyfin Android app [31:22] to be able to access it you can't sign [31:24] in there you know you have to give like [31:26] a API token or something but you just [31:28] you can set up for me I have it set up [31:30] with uh email me a token text me a token [31:34] or sign in with GitHub and then you [31:36] whitelist your email address your phone [31:38] number and um your GitHub uh ID and it's [31:42] I say if if any of these are met then [31:45] allow the person to go through and it [31:46] just it works beautifully. [31:48] >> Yeah. That's so much nicer than exposing [31:50] your your port just yolo to the [31:52] internet. Yeah. [31:53] >> Yeah. And hoping somebody doesn't find [31:56] it. [31:57] >> Yeah. [laughter] [31:57] Oh my god. [31:58] >> Tail scale is another one people love [32:00] tail scale. I've never used it myself, [32:02] but that seems to be another super great [32:05] >> I use tail scale. I used it for uh vibe [32:10] coding for my phone. There's a terminal [32:12] app that connects really well, but you [32:14] have to have a tail scale connection [32:17] there. And it worked really well. I [32:20] think I prefer the Cloudflare tunnels [32:21] approach rather than like being on that [32:24] VPN of the tail scale. And I don't know [32:26] if you need to do that. I'm not enough [32:28] of a a pro at that, but like I think you [32:30] need to be on a VPN of the tail scale to [32:35] be able to connect. And that was kind of [32:36] cool running, you know, open code [32:39] commands for my phone for a little bit, [32:40] but then I um decided to touch grass and [32:42] stop doing that. [laughter] [32:45] >> I also use um I've got both at the [32:48] cottage and at my house, I have uh UniFi [32:51] like networking. So, I can use something [32:53] called Teleport. They have an app called [32:55] Wi-Fi man and you just turn on teleport [32:58] and it installs a little VPN config on [33:00] your Mac [33:01] >> and then you can you can access your [33:03] whole home network uh at any time. So if [33:07] for whatever reason you needed to access [33:09] something [33:10] >> that is on your home network that you [33:12] you haven't yet forwarded, you can [33:14] install that. So I used that once to [33:16] access to mount my Synology because I [33:20] just wanted to drag some files into it [33:21] as if I were home. Yeah. Um, [33:23] >> so I just turned on teleport and and a [33:25] tail scale will do that as well as as [33:27] far as I understand. [33:29] >> So that's kind of where we're at right [33:30] now. I really want to build I have that [33:33] itch like I want to build a computer, [33:35] you know, [33:36] >> and I'm I'm kind of curious about like [33:38] what should I do? I kind of I think the [33:40] Mac Mini is probably the move just given [33:44] how fast those things are, but there's [33:47] not a lot of expandability, you know? So [33:49] maybe I don't want to spend like [33:51] thousands of dollars on a home server. [33:53] So I'm curious down below. [33:54] >> Connect it right to your Synology. Then [33:57] you got the storage. You got the speed [34:00] of the Mac Mini. [34:02] >> Yeah. [34:02] >> Yeah. [34:04] >> But like [34:05] But what's the hard drive space on your [34:07] on your Mac Mini? [34:08] >> I don't know. I don't use it really. [34:10] >> You don't use it a ton? I'm curious if [34:13] that would be the move. [34:14] >> I certainly would want some sort of ARM [34:17] chip running. I've thought about doing [34:19] the Mac Studio thing because then you [34:21] could run local LLMs on there, but that [34:24] gets very expensive for sure. [34:26] >> That's the other thing I'm thinking [34:28] about is that should I also be get [34:32] getting something that has like a GPU in [34:34] it so I can run these LLMs locally and [34:37] then I realize like my LLM budget is [34:40] >> like $8 a month or something. I'm really [34:43] not spending all that much. So, it's not [34:45] a big deal to ping the APIs. But let us [34:47] know down in the comments what you are, [34:49] what you have, what you've built. Send [34:51] us photos on Twitter or Blue Sky because [34:53] I love seeing everybody's rack. Um, if [34:55] you want to see an awful rack, I will [34:57] send you a picture of mine. It is very [34:59] dusty. Was very haphazardly crimped [35:03] Ethernet cables. [laughter] [35:04] >> This has got the dustiest rack on Earth. [35:06] Yeah, it's [35:07] >> just brutal.