Is Nethserver the right option for me?

Reheer · January 14, 2021, 2:48pm

Thank you all for your advice!

When I looked up the Super Micro server @Andy_Wismer suggested and saw the pricetag, I realised that I was going to fast When I get exited about something, I tend to act and think too big.

So I will go with the advice of @danb35 and @pike and start of with a VM and then later on switch to a Contabo VPS. And when things (budget) really start going, I will reconsider the homeserver setup.

Regards,
René

pike · January 14, 2021, 2:50pm

IMVHO a lots of “corporate” used PCs can allow to make an hardware “test” installation without too many issues for less than 200 euros, maybe a bit more if you want an SSD as system drive. Don’t forget some NAS Space or USB drive for backups

ssabbath · January 14, 2021, 2:56pm

lol, you can run nethserver in a i3 with 4gb and 250GB disk…

But of course you are kinda limited… but it runs smoothly!

transocean · January 14, 2021, 3:49pm

Hi Rene,

what a question… Believe me, Nethserver is simply the best solution. For Business and also for Private.
Test it and you will never start again with MS Server-Systems.

Regards from Germany and be healty…

Uwe

ssabbath · January 19, 2021, 7:32pm

Does MS has a firewall solution still? Last time i worked with one was TMG 2010… it was good… but also bad… ahahha!

thorsten · January 20, 2021, 4:41pm

Hi Rene,

warm welcome from my side, too. Your moves are almost the same as mine: Back to the roots, no clouds, while our motive differ slightly

Nethserver can handle most of your requirements out of the box.

I handle

shared contacts, calendar => Nethserver SoGo module (WebTop 5 may work, too)
notes => Nethsever Nextcloud especially the collabora extension provided by the forum teams allows to work in teams on Libreoffice Writer, Calc or Presentation
chat => Nethsver Nextcloud with Talk extension, Nethserver Mattermost and / or Nethserver Jabber are nice replacements for Whatsapp, however you will have your contacts to use the same system …
mail => works out of the box, I am running my own domain since 3 years … DNS / cnames, DMARC … setup with the ISP was difficult for a newbee, but now it works without interferences
Websites are possible, but I do not have experiences

Now to my favorite item - archiving of documents:
replacement of evernote and set up of your own document storage. I would encourage you to have a look at www.ecodms.de as a stand alone Document Management System. For less than 100 Euro you get a livetime server license. You will love it, I promise.

I host ecodms on a dedicated Linux Ubuntu server next to my Nethserver instance. EcoDMS uses the Nethserver AD for Authentification and user administration. The rest is done be EcoDMS. It is difficult to describe EcoDMS in written words. I can answer your question on an Zoom conference, just send me a PN if you want to know more about that.

Best regards
Thorsten

pike · January 21, 2021, 8:55am

@Reheer any news about your testing?

Reheer · February 5, 2021, 8:36pm

Hi Michael,

Something of higher priority came along…

But I have a Parallels VM running with a basic install of Nethserver and Nextcloud running now. Still a lot to try out and test though.

Reheer · February 5, 2021, 8:38pm

Hi Uwe,

I never have wanted to work with MS Server-Systems. The times I had to, were almost forgotten

Regards,
René

Reheer · February 5, 2021, 8:43pm

Hi Thorsten,

Thanks for your reply. I will have a look at the options you use as well as those Andy proposed.

Is there a reason why you use SoGo for contacts/calendar instead of Nextcloud?

Regards,
René

Andy_Wismer · February 5, 2021, 8:48pm

@Reheer

Hi René

I think probably due to support for Active Sync…

I find it easier to use Nextcloud for synching, especially mobile devices…

And, most of my clients (60%) use iPhones, not Android. IOS comes with built in Support for the used protocolls CalDAV and CrdDAV. Android needs an App (actually two), both are fairly cheap, but more to set up…

I’m also a parallels user, on my Macbook. But only for Win7/Win10, when I have to do client support… My NethServer runs on a Proxmox Server (Very old HP Proliant ML 110 G6, nearly 10 years now)…

Tip: For your “new” business as virtual assistant, you might want to have a look at MeshCentral (Available as a module for Nethserver). It can completly replace Teamviewer, Anydesk and such, all on your own server, and with your clients approval for each remote session… Nice for Privacy issues!

My 2 cents
Andy

My home setup…

thorsten · February 6, 2021, 7:36am

Hi Rene,

Yes and No.I have both installed next to each other

If I really look at the usage of client software, am not using SoGo nor Nextcloud at all. My clients an IOS Mail / calendar / contacts or Spark mail. On the Windows side I use Windowa mail and Mozilla Thunderbird.
On server side, you need a groupware provider. Within Nextcloud there ar two options: SoGo an WebTop. I did not know that Nextcloud can do this either, I always thought, Nextcloud is just a client.
I came from Zentyal using Zarafa groupware - it was easier to me to transfer contacts via SoGo.
This is 4 years ago, but I tried Weptop first. I had some trouble, but I can not remember anymore.
I liked the the look and feel from SoGo webfrontend more than Webtop, if found it more retraind, less coltish and somehow more reputable. But these are just personal feelings
Webtop has a Nextcloud file storage integration - I really miss that feature within Sogo (btw: I found an upload and link extension for Thunderbird recently - it uplods attachments to Nextcloud and creates the link share as well sa password and expiry from TB )

I Hope this helps
BR
Thorsten

thorsten · February 6, 2021, 2:11pm

Yes, this was on very import part of my decision

Reheer · February 12, 2021, 7:11pm

That’s is a very good tip. I’ve put it on my list to investigate

Reheer · February 12, 2021, 7:15pm

OK.
We’re IOS oriented, so Nextcloud will be fine I think.
But I think I will look into the other options as well.

Reheer · February 23, 2021, 4:50pm

Here an update for anyone who’s interested
I have my VM setup with:

Nethserver
Nextcloud: files synching, contacts and calendar
Webdav (via Nextcloud) to sync Joplin (waiting for Joplin Server to get production ready and hopefully usable with Nethserver
Matrix
Jitsi: for use within Matrix and just in general

I plan to look into Zabbix (@Andy_Wismer: is this even necessary for a single server?)

I’m still thinking about options for backup storage.
I’m confused about security and hardening of the server.

When I have a VPS running with this setup, I’m gonna look into the mail server options.

Groeten,
René

Andy_Wismer · February 23, 2021, 4:53pm

@Reheer

Hi Réne

In any car, you do have a sppedometer, petrol, battery. Is this necessary for a car? The authorities in every country seem to think so.

If you’re running a server, that means 24*7. That means you should know what’s going on.

But I can help you set it up if you want…

My 2 cents
Andy

Reheer · February 25, 2021, 2:58pm

Ha, I could probably have known what your answer would be

I know you ran a hands on training a couple of weeks ago. Wanted to attend, but wasn’t ready for it yet. Was this session recorded as you wanted to attempt that?

Very kind of you! I really appreciate it and will most certainly be asking questions (in another thread) when I’m looking into it further.

Quick first question: would Zabbix also work for multiple separate VPSs (my wife’s company NS, my own NS, possible backup VPS)?

Groeten,
René

BTW: I think most of the time your ‘2 cents’ are worth a lot more

Andy_Wismer · February 25, 2021, 3:58pm

Hi René

The above is no problem for Zabbix.

Ping me when you’re ready for Zabbix (Send a PM…).

My 2 cents
Andy

alefattorini · March 16, 2021, 4:11pm

Thats a good first step man!