The course is aimed for participants who no longer want to entrust their data to third parties, but want to keep it completely under their own control. Therefore, they might consider the establishment of an own data server, or the replacement of an existing NAS/homeserver through a more modern server, i.e. primarily a more energy-efficient device.
The Odroid M1 single board computer (SBC) offers an M.2 NVMe SSD slot on the processor board as well as a SATA connection for an additional SSD, together providing up to 8 TB of storage space. It operates completely silently without a fan and consumes only slightly more than 4 W during operation.
The proposed installation, which is completely performed by each of the participants during the course, is based on the current Ubuntu 24.04 Server operating system, and is therefore easily transferable to any other computer, which runs with the Ubuntu 24.04 Server operating system.
After the general introduction into the design of a secure and reliable home server, the participants will install on the provided sample Odroid M1 leveraging purely packages from the standard Ubuntu repositories a Windows file server for classic backup programs such as Acronis, EaseUs, TimeMachine, Duplicity, and others, as well as a private Nextcloud instance for universal, platform- and system-independent data archiving and synchronization.
The training course will cover and provide hands-on practice with the following topics:
storage.franken.de over the Internet.Each participant will be provided with an sample Odroid M1 SBC for the duration of the workshop. The functions listed above will be installed and configured with the help of detailed installation instructions by each of the participants.
At the end of the day, the participants can take with them their own server installation and configuration on the m.2 NVMe SSD. Well documented instructions are provided to migrate the server installation to private accounts. Thus it can serve as the base for the own home server.
Prior knowledge of Linux/Ubuntu is helpful but not essential. However, basic knowledge using a terminal-based user interface (CLI) is recommended, as well as experiences in day-to-day usage of file servers and cloud services.
It is expected that participants bring a private laptop (Windows, macOS, or Linux) with Wi-Fi or Ethernet network interface. A current version of the Firefox web browser, as well as a SSH client program (meanwhile included in all operating systems) should be available in the private laptop.