Not for longevity. Oracle can shut it off in a blink for no reason

I know a VPS is a simple thing in theory but sometimes it’s a lot for a beginner.

A VPS paired with Docker may also unintentionally expose something not meant for the outside world due to it ignoring iptables and ufw

I set up Authentik for some of my services and it works.

The setup really threw me off but I powered through learning it. It’s a strange UI and process.

Basically you set it up with Nginx or Caddy or whatever reverse proxy you use. Your reverse proxy points to Authentik and Authentik takes that link and checks for authorization first. If not authorized, prompt login. If authorized, pass on to the subdomain or whatever it is.

To do all this, you’d need a domain.

Love my Racknerd VPS.

Edit: Some deals here

I think any issues would show in “other”

Just hide it in your OS notification settings

I self-host my own rustdesk server and it’s awesome. It just works flawlessly.

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I have a FLIRC remote with the receiver and use it for both my TV and HTPC.

It’s awesome once set up, but the app is honestly dogshit. They put in all these smooth menu transitions and whatnot, making it painfully difficult to configure the remote.

https://flirc.tv/

So, once OS updates are unavailable, the machine might become a weak link from security standpoint or stop running some software.

That’s why I specified:

Double check before buying that it can be wiped and you can put Linux on it.

Yep, that’s what I started with. I had a 2014 Toshiba Chromebook with 16 GB storage and 2 GB memory.

It was my lil ssh/vnc machine for the longest time until the battery stopped working. I replaced it with a proper Thinkpad recently.

An old Chromebook sounds perfect.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=Chromebook+10+inch

Looks like most of those are 11.6". Double check before buying that it can be wiped and you can put Linux on it.

I’d advise against pinetime as a sports watch because it doesn’t accurately track mileage or pace. I’m looking to replace mine eventually with a Garmin or something.

I scat

This is a great reference:
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-drive-stats-for-2023/

Serverpartdeals is a good source for cheaper drives.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I put it on a larger HDD because my SSD was running out of space and it corrupted about a week later.

When you say database, do you mean the OS and the server install?

Yes, that’s what I meant. I switched my server install to a HDD because it was running on a 256 GB SSD which was running out of room.

I’m sure docker is easier if you know it… that’s like the point, afaik, but while basic use might be easy, it’s… never ever that easy for me, something always goes wrong, which is why I haven’t bothered yet. I know I should, I know it’ll make things easier (hypothetically), but it feels like a huge undertaking for someone with no skills. I’ve been looking for a super noob friendly instruction guide, and have not found one that I can work with, tbh, without a bunch of other know-how that I don’t have. (If you know of any I’d be eternally grateful!!!)

I can give you some tips for now and then I’ll give you some more in-depth instructions when I’m at my computer again.

For now:
Install Docker to your computer. I’m not sure how windows Docker handles it but I recommend using Docker compose. I’m not sure of the technical differences between Docker and Docker compose, but I found Docker compose to be much easier to use because it’s saved as a YAML file (text file). If you need to make changes, just edit the file.

Once you have that set up, get a Plex server running. You’ll probably have to change the ports in the Docker one to avoid conflict with your current one.

I recommend LinuxServer.io for a lot of things, including Plex. There’s some dissent over use of Linux Server’s apps due to permission and root things, but they are also super simple to use and you can start with the basics here.

https://docs.linuxserver.io/images/docker-plex/

Scroll down a bit to find the docker-compose section. To start a sample plex server, make the following changes:

Remove network_mode: host

In line with environment and volumes, add this:
ports - 324001:32400

This will route 32400 of the docker container to 32401 of the host network, allowing you to have both servers running at the same time without a port conflict.

Edit the volumes as needed. Always remember, it goes: host: container for everything. You can change it however you need. /config should preferably be on an SSD, as I said. The rest can be created as needed. For mine, I have both movies and TV shows stored under a folder called /media/. My plex docker script mounts /media/ and in plex I can search through the subdirectories to find the TV and Movies section.

Your second (temporary) plex server should be set up properly once you start the container

I’ll tell you how to data over to the Docker container later.

It is possible to pass transcoding - I’ll share my compose file when I’m at my computer

I would recommend using Docker first on the windows machine as a step in the transition. I did exactly this when I was transitioning to debian from windows. It made the official switch insanely easy because all I had to do was set up the Docker filesystem to what it already knew and it started up without any issues.

My lessons learned:
Keep the database on an SSD. I put mine on a HDD and it corrupted.

good stable distro

Debian

long-term stable choice

Debian

this specific machine is not meant for change. Ever.

Debian

Bonus round: anyone who’s ever transferred Plex servers from win to Linux (insert flavor), is it actually possible to keep my collections and playlists and stuff?

Yes, it’s relatively simple, especially with Docker. Back up the Plex folder from your windows machine. Once your new OS is set up, put the folder where you wanna store it and point Docker to that folder in the compose.yaml.