Just Starting

[BTH]

Hi So great to have a dedicated home lab section.
I am new and have plans for self hosting and learning.
I currently have three Think Pads - My first one was for CAD drafting for my house renovation and had to be windows for Autodesk.
System Name THINKBOOK
System Manufacturer LENOVO
System Model 21EK
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU LENOVO_MT_21EK_BU_idea_FM_ThinkBook 16p G3 ARH
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 6600H with Radeon Graphics, 3301 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)

I am moving to Linux and picked up 2 Think Pads so I can learn Linux and so I won't screw up my good Lenovo 21EK. Although, I plan to convert that to Linux and use for part of my home lab.

The others:
System Name DESKTOP-O4K2TBK
System Manufacturer LENOVO L412
System Model 44036CM
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU M 560 @ 2.67GHz, 2660 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)

System Manufacturer LENOVO x131e (I love the bulletproof small case)- But may use it for server or firewall?
System Model 33672K5
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU LENOVO_MT_3367
Processor Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 1007U @ 1.50GHz, 1500 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)


Plan:
1. Install Fedora KDE on the LENOVO L412
2. Then start to understand containers and I want to run ai small language models and learn pipeline for processing.
Ultimately, have all personal photos and files on a NAS then Home Assist video surveillance and notifications.

- If I go with Fedora, do you think I should stick with Redhat server? I am interested in INCUS, maybe Ubuntu server, (but I want as much privacy and control as possible.... I've been off Facebook for about 6 months and finding my life is much more productive.
Anyway- I will update later.

 

[Alexzee]

Hi! & Welcome to Linux.org BTH.

Years ago I tried FreeCad for Linux.
Nice program and it's free and open source if you ever need it.

I'm not well versed with container however our member @CaffeineAddict and our administrator @wizardfromoz may be able to assist you with that.

As far as staying with a RH server if you go with Fedora....our member @dos2unix and our moderator @f33dm3bits have good skills and should be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[Rob]

If you're new to Linux, I'd do one with Ubuntu server, one with maybe Rocky Linux (red hat -> centos -> clone), then why not try Arch on the 3rd so you get to know 3 different package management systems. Then, one will eventually come out as the one you like working with best and move forward with that. Or - continue to play around with various distros while you learn.

 

[Alexzee]

Have fun and learn new things.

Rocky Linux

Rocky Linux is an open enterprise Operating System designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with Enterprise Linux.

rockylinux.org

Get Ubuntu Server | Download | Ubuntu

Get Ubuntu Server one of three ways; by using Multipass on your desktop, using MAAS to provision machines in your data centre or installing it directly on a server.

ubuntu.com

DistroWatch.com: Arch Linux

News and feature lists of Linux and BSD distributions.

distrowatch.com

 

[wizardfromoz]

@Alexzee , not I when it comes to containers.

 

[BTH]

@Alexzee , not I when it comes to containers.

What do you mean, "not i with containers"?

 

[wizardfromoz]

Reference to me in #2.

 

[BTH]

If you're new to Linux, I'd do one with Ubuntu server, one with maybe Rocky Linux (red hat -> centos -> clone), then why not try Arch on the 3rd so you get to know 3 different package management systems. Then, one will eventually come out as the one you like working with best and move forward with that. Or - continue to play around with various distros while you learn.

Yes, ultimately Arch.... Maybe down the road... Thank you for your contribution.

 

[peterg75]

I'm doing something similar. Currently have Cachy OS as my main laptop (Arch without archinstall). And Debian on my Dell Optiplex small form factor desktop used as a server.

The idea is to install NextCloud for file and photo management. VaultWarden for password management. Learning Docker at the moment. Also not sure how to go about securing this. I have a few old machines, so may be able to set up a dedicated firewall, but still not sure what direction to go or how to do it properly. Also learning about reverse proxies and seeing if that alone can be enough for security. Any help from someone who've done it is appreciated. Looking forward to reading this thread.