I am starting my journey to build a NextCLoud environment. My hardware list is :
1 x DLink 320L with 2 x 3gig HDs
1 x Raspberry Pi 4 B
1 x Acer Revo One RL85-UR45 [currently my existing desktop in the processes of being swapped out]
1 x TPLink 5 port switch.
I want to build a home NAS for my pictures, documents, etc. There is a a good chance I will to extend this to be a NAS I can access from the outside world.
I have never build a home NAS network or a personal “cloud” network. I am starting from first principles.
Can somebody direct me to the following :
a hardware / network diagram for cabling
best standard for what each part of the network does :
Router to switch
Switch to box x
Switch to desktop PC
Box X to NAS
how in stall Nextcloud
Do I install Ubuntu then NextCoud or
Is there a “Nextcloud OS”
Which is the best Nextcloud onto Ubuntu install guide?
How do I turn the Home NAS into an External Personal Cloud
What else do I need to know
I know this is a lot of begginer stuff, but having read of lot of the forum threads, I am still missing the “first principles” stuff. I might be in here somewhere, but I am having difficulties bring the first steps together.
Nextcloud is very versatile in terms of hardware and software base where you can run it, so there is no “best practice”. in some environments you can choose from different technologies like bare-metal, docker or snap… but at the end most of them are similar and require understanding and managing many network and application basics… different "stack"s just offer different ways to address specific issues.
I would recommend you spend some time reading and browsing 101: Self-hosting information for beginners and other 101 articles to understand what you can expect from self-hosting. Later read and maybe try different tutorials you feel comfortable with… likely you will prefer one of the technologies and then start experimenting! but don’t go “all in” from day one… keep your existing tools and data where you have them now until you feel happy with the new stuff, operations, upgrades and backup/restore…
Wow, what a dinosaur! I still have mine from 2012. It is 400mhz with 64mb of ram, so it struggles to run anything. Flashed mine with Alt-F back around 2014. Honestly, I currently use mine as a door stop.
Another rocking oldie. This machine makes the most sense to use as a server, assuming it has no outstanding issues.
The Pi 4 is ehh good, and quite comparable to the Acer since neither can have upgraded ram, etc. You didn’t mention how much ram this has, but I would skip it as well unless you plan to boot it from an SSD over usb 3.0
It will perform fine for basic tasks. Based on your machines I think this choice would be fine.
I hope it is gigabit and you have a gigabit router. Otherwise, 100mb will hold you back on the networking end.
Lack of being able to upgrade is the other problem. Like I said above, the D-Link nas is not good and I would skip it entirely. Or, sell it for $30 (probably won’t be sellable) on the classified ads and put that towards an SSD. Good luck.
Your best bet is to sell all of these machines and invest in something that can upgrade ram, supports ssd disks or nvme natively, and was made within the last few years. It would also make sense for that machine to support the two 3.5" disks you have.
