I'm interested in exploring the world of self hosting, but most of the information that I find is incredibly detailed and specific, such as what type of CPU performs better, etc. What I'm really looking for is an extremely basic square 1 guide. I know basically nothing about networking, I don't really know any coding, but it seems like there are a lot of tools out there that might make this possible even for a dummy like me.
Right now, my cloud computing is pretty much typical, I think. I use onedrive to sync my documents and old files. I need to be able to quickly access files on different devices, such as a powerpoint created on one device and presented on another. On my phone I use Android and my backups of downloads and photos and other data (messages, etc) are all on Google Drive /Google 1.
I'm willing to spend the time learning to an extent, but I'm not looking to become a network expert. I'm also willing to spend a little bit of money on hardware or a subscription service if necessary. Ideally I'd like to be out of this subscription service game, but the main goal is to be in charge of my own files. I have an old laptop running Linux to play around with and a fast and stable home internet connection.
Eventually, I would like to not only be syncing my files, photos, and documents in real time, but also I'd like to maybe try using it as an entertainment server to watch/listen to downloaded media on my home network.
Is there such a thing as a guide for a total beginner starting from zero? Is this worth attempting, or will I quickly find myself frustrated and in way over my head? Or, do I need to wait a little longer until more idiot-proof tools become available?
Myrecommendations is probably to host a next cloud instance. Does all the standard 'cloud stuff'. File, contact, calendar sync, plus a bunch if other stuff if you want to add it via plugins. If you're patient, and a single use you can host it on basically anything. If you decide you want to add users or have a faster site, you can go down the route of sorting out faster hardware or better specs and suck.
That's a recommendation that I've seen a couple of times, and it looks promising. However I haven't found any guide that really explains how to do it step by step, or what factors I should consider, or even really what I need to be able to do it. Do you know if there is such a guide for someone who really isn't a "computer guy?"
Honestly, if you want small and cheap get a raspberry pi to play around or rent a VM.
If you care about storage too you can get a Synology NAS (pricy) which is pretty newbie proof and comes out of the box with different and photo sync along with support for VMs or docker.
My first step was Nextcloud as a snap on a Xubuntu desktop. Very old hardware but a big hard drive.
That was eight years ago. I'll let you know if it fails anytime soon.
I have a bunch of other stuff now, but that was the start, and I still use it all the time!