Owning My Data

Hey there avid readers. Sorry for the delay, and welcome to 2019!

For the last few months I've focused on consolidating the devices on my network. It is time to give purpose to the projects I've worked on. I've also been studying up for some CompTIA certifications, but that's another post. Let's get to it.

I want to host more of the data I own at home, for several reasons. Did you know you don't really "own" a digital copy of a movie you bought from Google? Or that e-book you purchased from Amazon or Barnes & Noble? The way we buy digital copies of things is much more like leasing a car than buying one. You only have access to that movie from Google or Amazon as long as they want you to.

Is it likely Google is going to shut down in the near future? No. But it can happen. In 2016, Barnes & Noble decided to stop supporting Nooks in the United Kingdom. If you didn't take action to secure your Nook books before a certain date, you would lose them. That's not real ownership. And that's not even touching on the fact that you can't easily share digital books and movies like a physical copy — despite technically owning them. Often any type of sharing is against their terms of service, if not outright illegal.

It would be nice to have access to my books, movies, music, photos, and more without having to rely on someone else.

This will be more of a living outline than a typical post — a home for this project that will be continuously updated.

Steps to Follow

1. Establish what projects I want running
2. Map out my network
3. Acquire appropriate hardware
4. Build out sub-projects
5. Establish external access for software

1. Establish What Projects I Want Running

Here's a short list of what I want to run on my network:

• Pi-hole — Ad-blocking DNS and DHCP server for my home
• OpenVPN — To access my network safely and securely
• Emby — Self-hosted version of Netflix
• Calibre — Self-hosted ebook server and library
• Rocket.Chat — A private chat and communication service, similar to Slack
• BitTorrent Box — A place to download files and give back to the community
• Nextcloud — A place to store passwords, contacts, calendars, and more
• Piwigo — A place to share pictures and photos
• Ampache — For music
• Nginx — To serve as a reverse proxy and provide HTTPS support
• Docker — A program that will allow me to host services without breaking too much
• A testing environment

2. Map Out My Network

All of these devices have to be physically placed around my home. I don't have space in any one location, so I need to map out where my servers and computers will live, along with a logical map of how traffic will flow across my network.

3. Acquire Appropriate Hardware

My router only has 4 Ethernet ports — not enough. I'll need to invest in a switch. I also want something more powerful than a Raspberry Pi to handle streaming video. I'll also invest in Ethernet cables and a crimper to terminate my own cables.

4. Establish External Access for Software

I'll need to configure Nginx and SSL certificates to access my network over the internet. This will be an ongoing project that I'll work on alongside each completed sub-project.

5. Build Out Sub-Projects

This will be a growing list of completed projects as I work through them.

Takeaways and Future Thoughts

• Unexpected problems: There will be many
• Future concerns: Future-proofing and updates will be fun
• Future enhancements: I expect much tinkering to follow