About a year ago I was introduced to Self-hosting. In a nutshell, it involves hosting certain services on your own hardware instead of using other providers who often sell your data. For more information on self-hosting, you can visit this page.
This process requires a piece of hardware (a server) that you run 24x7, which is accessible from outside of your home network also, if you configure it that way. Initially I started with a Raspberry Pi and it worked very well. However, it was not able to provide a lot of power via its USB ports, due to which, I was not able to plug my multiple hard drives in that. To run my Jellyfin instance smoothly, and more importantly have all my collection of movies and shows accessible, I needed a bigger machine.
I tried my using my laptop as a server, but that did not go very well as I have mentioned in a couple of my previous posts.
Upon researching, I found that Amazon has a collection of refurbished mini PCs that have good configuration and are not very expensive. Even at the time of writing this, they are still available for sale. If you search for "mini pc", you will see a lot of refurbished options.
I was skeptical because of confusing return policies, so decided not to order it from there. I explored some local options and found a shop that also sells refurbished laptops, and they had mini pcs also. The price that he quoted was the same as Amazon one's and was also providing 1-year warranty. This was a better option because in case of any problem, we can go to the shop for a solution. The Amazon option was completely virtual.
I was living in "Baner" and the shop was in "Wagholi". It was a long way to the shop. 26 km to be exact.
April 17 2023, was a regular working day but the work was a little less because the news of our project shutting down was conveyed to us. I had a team-mate named Prateek Joshi. We both are almost the same age. He is always ready for crazy things. I asked him that are you interested in going from office to Wagholi and back? It's a 50+ km journey on Activa.
Without a second thought he said "Haa chalo. Kab chalna hai?" I said "Abhi" and he agreed.
Next I called the shopkeeper and confirmed that the shop was open, the location and whether card payment is accepted.
Even though I was relatively free, but I still informed my manager over teams about our plan. Not only he didn't have any problem with us going for the whole day but also suggested multiple chaat shops in that area which are good and can be tried.
None of us had a lunchbox, so we were going to eat outside anyway. We packed our stuff and just left....
It was peak summer. It was sunny outside and there were hot winds (loo) which can literally make someone sick if exposed to them for long, and we didn't even take a water bottle with us....
First we stopped at a nearby petrol pump for obvious reasons. I remember while we were there, I received a call from a recruiter telling me my resume was shortlisted, and they will be scheduling an interview in a few days. They never did.
I paid for the petrol as it was my task we were going there for.
With a full fuel tank, we properly started for the journey. I was sitting at the back and had the map open. I was telling him when and where to make the turns, and he was driving. We just kept going. I was purposely not looking at the time remaining to reach because I knew it's a long way. Upon reaching one point, Prateek asked me "how far is it showing?" and I replied "Bhai, abhi to aadhaa hi hua hai".
For 80% of the journey, we did not find too much traffic, which was good. Initially there were turns to be taken here and there, but once we reached "Kharadi", the path was to just go straight. We went straight for what felt like an eternity. I remember Prateek saying at one point "Bhai gaand mar gayi gaadi chalate chalate". In this extreme heat, he was wearing a black t-shirt. Upon reaching Wagholi there was some traffic in which, we got stuck and the thirst for water was hitting both of us.
And at last, we finally reached the shop. We parked our vehicle in the shade and went inside. There were a lot of ayurvedic medicine boxes kept there. We went in the next room where the shopkeeper showed me a lot of different models of different brands and different configurations. He had brands like HP, Dell, Lenovo. Upon some further contemplation, discussion and checking my budget, I finalized a Lenovo Thinkcentre M900 with the following specifications:
- Intel i5-6th gen processor with Intel HD graphics
- 16 GB of RAM
- 256 GB of SSD
 |
| Ignore the i7 sticker. |
Its cost was 14,500 which was in my budget. There was one problem though. The PC did not have an HDMI port. It had a display port. To connect it to a monitor/ TV, an HDMI cable was needed with a display port connector on its other end, which I did not have. Although I had planned to use the server headless but during initial installation and any troubleshooting, I needed to have a display and for that I needed that cable. He said that he will provide the cable, but it will take about an hour for it to get there. He was expecting a shipment.
We had some time to kill because even if we didn't wait for that cable, the guy would install Windows on the PC and check everything before giving it to us. Even if I was not planning to use Windows on that, I decided to let the guy do his thing because it would help me to verify the hardware before I made the payment.
We were hungry at this point, so the shopkeeper suggested a small place to eat nearby. We also searched for eating places nearby and found a shop that served Biryani and decided to walk there as it was close. Upon reaching the location, we found nothing. No shop of that name was anywhere in sight. It was probably there at one point, but it had moved and no one updated the location on maps.
We then went to the place that the shopkeeper suggested. "Hotel Nisarg".
It was a small place with plastic benches and chairs. Consider an upgraded version of a dhaba. There was a small TV which was playing a Hindi dubbed version of some south Indian film. The first thing we ordered was water bottles. Next, we ordered veg biryani. The quantity was amazing, but it was too spicy, so I was only able to finish half of it. Because of the intense heat, I was sure that I would be falling sick, so I didn't want to overeat something spicy.
After eating and drinking water, we felt a little better. During the time pf payment, my bank's server was down, so Prateek paid for the food. When we came back to the shop, the PC was ready and the cable had also arrived. I checked the configuration on the PC, and after I verified it, the guy packed it. I was extra careful that he packed the same unit and not some other one. He also provided a small USB Wi-Fi adapter, as there was none in the unit itself.
Now came the payment. When I took out my card, he demanded to pay via UPI or cash. Before leaving the office in the morning I verified on the call that card payments would be accepted there, and while they were, he also had the machine, he told that if I paid via a card, then I would have to pay a little extra because some percentage of the amount is deducted by the carrier or whatever.
He told me that there is an ATM nearby from where I can withdraw cash. If I had known this previously, I would have brought cash. I didn't want to go to the sad little ATM that he suggested, which looked suspicious. I did not have any other option. I had to withdraw 14,500. Because of the limit, I took at 4000 once. I got it. 4000 again. I got it. And then the machine ran out of money.
Now I still needed 6500. The guy said you can pay it via UPI, which I tried, but my bank's server was still down. Prateek paid, 6500 for me and the deal was closed. We started our journey back to office. Sadly, we were not able to visit any of the places my manager suggested.
Half way there, the sky became cloudy. We knew that it wouldn't rain, but at least it was a relief from the scorching sun. Prateek even received a call from a different project in our company regarding on open position.
And finally, we reached our office. Upon reaching the floor, people pointed out to us that both of your faces have become red. And yes, because of the tanning, our body shades changed. I realized this back at home when I removed my watch. People also told us that you should not have gone a distance like this in the hot sun. They were right.
But now I can look back on this as an adventurous activity.
I reached home and the first thing I did was pay Prateek 6500 and the food charges. I had come to my sister's house as my parents were there for that day.
I connected the PC to the TV with the display cable, and my sister's husband gave me a set of wireless keyboard and mouse. I ran basic tests for checking read and write speeds of the SSD and a geek bench test for testing the overall machine, and both of the tests yielded fantastic results. I was happy. The best part was, I did not even get sick because of the extreme heat.
Over the course of several weeks, I was able to configure it the way I wanted to. I installed Proxmox hypervisor and started deploying CT containers for my self-hosted services.
It's working flawlessly till date. I can say that it is one of the best purchase I ever made. I have learned several things because of this, which has helped me in my personal as well as professional life. I will write a separate post for what I run on my server and post it on Reddit. Maybe though.
A huge credit for this goes to Prateek as he not only drove 50+km for me but also paid, 6500 for me when I wasn't able to.
Thank you, Prateek Joshi. May the force be with you.
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