I'm fairly new to Linux and have installed a few distros based on Debian and Arch, but I've only done basic stuff so far. I've got an old PC with a 4th Gen Intel chip just sitting around, and I want to turn it into a file server for my photos and videos. My wife wants to access these files from our smart TVs and also upload photos from our phones remotely, similar to Google Photos. I'm interested in running some Docker containers too, mainly for Pi-hole. Currently, I've installed EndeavourOS on the machine but haven't configured anything yet. The only hitch is that the drive I want to use for storage has data I need to keep, although I can reformat if necessary and back it up elsewhere. Any help or suggestions on how to set this up would be amazing!
3 Answers
For a file server setup, I'd recommend exploring TrueNAS. It's user-friendly and works on FreeBSD, offering a great GUI. If you're looking for Linux options, though, Rocky Linux or Ubuntu are solid choices for stability. Just keep in mind networking details like port forwarding, especially if you're accessing files remotely. It can be a bit of a rabbit hole, but it's definitely worth the effort!
Distro choice isn't crucial since you're using Docker. I'd suggest looking into Immich for your photo storage; it's designed for upload and access on smart TVs. Samba is another straightforward option for file sharing on your network. For backups, consider SnapRaid with MergerFS; it's a manageable alternative to traditional RAID setups.
I wouldn't stress too much about which distro to pick. Proxmox is great for server setups since it's tailored for virtualization. Additionally, using Docker makes it super flexible. Remember to back up your important data regardless of the setup you choose!
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