Proxmox is awesome. Sort of the answer to most of my server wants.

Cool recommendation! I just bought one!

I am hoping with all hope that it will let me replace my Roku for streaming.

As great as the functionality of the Roku is, the constant advertising makes me loath this thing. I do not want it anymore.

I have been learning about it, and what really has motivated was seeing my current provider ProtonMail have an anniversary sale, and just having the least affordable pricing just to get a couple features I need. I have never been a fan of cloud storage, I have never needed an online service to handle my calendars or whatever else.

I need to do do this out of principle.

You are right, that is a lot of software in use. However, I have been given a lot of recommendations. I got my own domain name. I am almost ready. I just need to setup a few more things. I am taking a long time to do this, I got distracted with other self-hosted applications, but I do want to try running a mailserver.

I am learning this is the case. I think I may be better off running a Nextcloud instance, or similar suite using better applications for stuff like file sharing, which is more important.

I am learning this is the case. I think I may be better off running a Nextcloud instance, or similar suite using better applications for stuff like file sharing, which is more important.

I am learning this is the case. I think I may be better off running a Nextcloud instance, or similar suite using better applications for stuff like file sharing, which is more important.

Cool. That might be the better route than virtualization, since basically every self-hosting project seems to use docker anyways.

Of course I can just virtualize CasaOS…

Would you rate CasaOS over something like ProxMox? I know there is a difference in purpose, since ProxMox is about virtualization and CasaOS is about easy hosting of docker instances.

Do you have an opinion on what is better in the long run for self-hosting?

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/

I adore that website, and its sibling No Tech Magazine.

I will definitely look into those things if I run into troubles!

Thank you for the encouragement! I am inching my way towards building a server, and I am thankful for all the tips and suggestions I got.

I am starting to think that if email is the hardest to self-host, then perhaps more people should try it. It is worthy to take regain indepedence and autonomy of technology, even if it seen as a lost cause.

Yeah, I hope to get something running soon, just so I can say I did it.

That is the thing, I am willing to pay for email, because then the incentives are real to the provider to follow best practices for privacy and quality of life, but the pricing blows up too quickly due to to features I will never use. I need something more granular.

I am also looking at Disroot and Posteo, which I like because the have hardened ethical principles driving their services, and that is worth supporting.

Hell yes, I love the enthusiasm! I just got a domain, which is giving me 3 months of email, so that is great. I feel like Tutanota is the most honest email service when it comes to advertising privacy, and they do some stuff that Proton definitely does not, like make recovery impossible without a key, and use no other method.

My next step is to get a VPS, and Hetzner is the name I have seen pop up the most. I will use that.

Thank you!

This is so encouraging! For sure it takes a level of technical proficiency and experience, but any technology that has been around for decades has been simplified and automated in one way or another. In retrospect, it is ridiculous to think that all these email providers could exist if they could not overcome the stranglehold of Google and Microsoft, so it must be possible for individuals to do it too,

Right on. The first domain I will buy will be a personal fun one, just to experiment and mess around. I don’t quite know what professional name I want for my domain, since I don’t have a brand or anything, and having just my name seems odd.

This looks really solid. It looks like I have a couple options for Docker that seems to make life easier. Thank you for the suggestion.

I keep saying it but I need to get familiar with docker, especially to run all other kinds of services.

I guess I will try mailcow first.

Interesting, I would think that email requires the least amount of resources, which is probably why so little effort is put to optimizing it.

I am the most comfortable in rabbit holes.

A lot of people on here are way more technically minded than I will ever be, so if they are having trouble, I AM IN TROUBLE! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!

I think I will be fine. I am keeping the emails I already set up. If I get fluent and comfortable running my own email server, I may migrate, but I am not shooting myself in the foot anytime soon.