I have a salvaged desktop in a closet which I use for:
- pihole (adblock and local dns)
- unbound for upstream dns (no more 8.8.8.8 dns for me)
- VPN to access my home network and for some security on public wifi
- NAS (only via sshfs, want to try nextcloud) where data is stored on a software raid array
- a couple SQL databases for a hobby project
Since I have ports exposed (I know), I have it configured for no root login, some default ports are set to non default ports, and I have fail2ban installed.
I’m pretty proud of my setup and it’s made my life and work flow pretty awesome and simplified, especially with the WFH/hybrid stuff.
I want to try nextcloud so I can consolidate my calendar(s?), and get rid of trello as a service, in addition to serving my NAS files. But i want to test drive it first and I dont have a system to do that properly at the moment.
Also, you don’t need a crazy router to get started. Mine is a crappy $100 router. Most will have port forwarding if you need to expose ports, or ddns if you want a domain name. There are some things you’d want a slightly more powerful router for (like maybe a media server serving most of your house). But you can always upgrade your router.