View source for Introduction to a Self Managed Life: a 13 hour & 28 minute presentation by FUTO software

== Why my setup makes no sense ==

My setup is very strange. It’s disorganized, unwieldly, and not visually appearing.

'''My setup:'''

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You likely want something that looks more like this:

'''Sensible setup:'''

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<span id="my-weird-computer"></span>
=== My weird computer ===

I don’t have a bedroom computer, home theater computer, office computer, etc. I have one computer that sits in my living room that I use for everything. I lived in an 1100 sq ft studio apartment for twelve years, so I had one PC for my 1 room home. This cube was my work computer, my video editing machine, my personal machine, my home theater PC; all in one.

'''What makes a good home theater PC is not what makes a good video editing workstation.''' For a home theater PC, you should have something like this:

* Very '''quiet'''
* Very '''cheap'''
* '''Pre-built''', because you have enough on your plate than to take time building a custom computer that rips blurays &amp; runs a pretty version of VLC
* '''Optical audio output''' If you don’t want to buy an external audio interface separately
* '''Power efficient''' so you aren’t taking 150-250 watts to play an mkv file
* '''Small pretty form factor''' that fits in with your living room perfectly

'''Above all, you don’t want it to look like a giant mess!'''

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<span id="my-stoneage-home-theater-software"></span>
==== My stoneage home theater software ====

I showed you what I use; a computer file explorer to browse to my video &amp; music files, and double click them to play them in VLC. There are several reasons this is horrible:

* '''File &amp; folder browsing.'''
** If your folders are a mess, it will be difficult to find your stuff.
** Immich tags photos by face &amp; description; we want something like this that’ll just make sense of our 160 terabytes of stuff.
* '''Blinding user interface'''.
** Computer operating systems are designed for use with a monitor right next to you, not a TV that is 3 meters away.
** You can change your display settings &amp; scaling, but making it work with a TV makes it awkward.
* '''Manual lookup of info''': finding ratings, credits, other info isn’t immediately accessible &amp; requires leaving the file explorer or VLC to find.

There’s nothing inherently '''''wrong''''' with this setup. It’s just not everyone’s cup of tea, so we’re going to set up something built for a home theater living room system. This can be done '''quickly and easily''' - unlike many other things in GNU/Linux!

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<span id="beautiful-software-made-for-a-living-room-television"></span>
==== Beautiful software made for a living room Television ====

[https://kodi.tv/ Kodi] is a program that turns your computer into a polished home theater system for your living room TV.

* '''User-friendly interface''' designed for couch viewing. No need to squint or strain your eyes.
* '''Automatic library organization.''' Kodi scans folders &amp; files and turns the biggest messes into beautifully organized library of movies, shows, and music.

* '''Metadata integration.''' Kodi grabs information from online databases &amp; shows detailed summaries, artwork, &amp; ratings for movies, tv, and music.
* '''Open-source and offline-friendly.''' You can run Kodi without an internet connection, ensuring your ''legally ripped, totally un-copyrighted'' media collection remains private.

* '''Built-in song lyric support.''' Kodi automatically fetches &amp; displays lyrics for your music.
* '''Seamless playback with buffering.''' Kodi caches files so your media doesn’t stutter or skip, even if your server is slow or under heavy load.
* '''Effortless 4K playback.''' From high-bitrate h.264 to h.265, VC-1, or MPEG-2 files, Kodi can play anything you’ll encounter on the high seas or your personal bluray collection.

<span id="kodi-takes-minutes-to-install-configure"></span>
==== Kodi takes minutes to install &amp; configure ====

[https://kodi.tv/ Kodi] software is made for a home theater PC; you on the couch, television eight feet away, &amp; it can be installed in 2 minutes or less using a GNU/Linux distribution called [https://libreelec.tv/ LibreELEC]. This is not a convoluted installation process. It’s so seamless you’ll almost forget you’re using open source software.

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<span id="doesnt-my-tv-already-do-this"></span>
==== Doesn’t my TV already do this? ====

You should be able to trust your television to play television and movies. That is what it is there for.

The year is 2025, and consumer protection in the United States''(&amp; many other countries)'' is a joke. Many modern televisions come pre-configured to sell your personal data, equipped with the ability to tell who you are and what you’re watching. LG is [https://privacy.us.lg.com upfront about it]. You will hear the argument that this is necessary to keep televisions affordable; this is made by simps for television manufacturers, or the television manufacturers themselves. Above you’ll see an image of the menu of an LG G3 OLED television. '''The LG G3 OLED television is configured, by default, to spy on &amp; sell the personal information of its user; even when purchased new, at full $3600 MSRP from an Authorized LG Dealer. You cannot remove these elements of its operating system. You thought you owned the television that you bought, but the television thinks it owns you'''.

You can use your television to play back media, but it is often highly restricted. Combine this with the fact that most, if not all, modern televisions come with spyware pre-installed that you cannot remove, and we’re not doing that. My television will go on the internet over my dead body.

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<span id="an-asus-asustor-flashstor-mini-pc-for-a-home-theater-computer"></span>

=== An ASUS Asustor Flashstor mini-pc for a home theater computer ===

This machine fits all of our above requirements above ''beautifully.''

<span id="quiet-operation"></span>
==== Quiet Operation ====

Dealing with noise is important when setting up a home theater PC. Your gaming PC probably sounds like an annoying $20 amazon drone, and many minipcs aren’t much better. This machine makes little to no noise even when playing back high bitrate h.265 files &amp; fits easily inside a TV stand or on a small shelf.

<span id="impressive-storage-capacity"></span>
==== Impressive Storage Capacity ====

We are using our server for storage, not the Asustor Flashstor mini-pc. If you wanted to try using this as a small starter server, here’s where the ASUS Asustor MiniPC shines—'''storage capacity'''. Unlike most if not all mini-PCs which offer 1 or 2 slots at best for SATA/NVMe drives, the asustor has '''six NVMe slots on the cheapest model'''. This lets you to install up to 24 terabytes of incredibly fast storage on the cheap asustor, or 48 terabytes on the higher end models.

<span id="cost-300-400-on-ebay"></span>
==== Cost: $300-$400 on eBay ====

These can be found under [https://www.ebay.com/itm/126778026449?_skw=asustor&itmmeta=01JE2ADEGT8FRQ5A3F382XAQFR&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKlHyaaNfhwG0a0qDGiezVnDGbOrDK%2F0m3Z9BOZntIaopaUpFxI2BZ%2FT%2FUTiynBT9r7jGvcZTsYZmKJPAsYnqOf9l1H4iDCewdnk0vpdINtJo5cipLcikC049ecEiax%2FSE5Kafw1PFAajDKRAWEloFrPrK8tfztOIe7j8c9yBUCD17X8rMaY8gUt0KDZBg%2BGT7oGU3%2FHCKycRaUA7HfxYxgfYWQ501010hLK2fFmdl4uPjbvGSslrE0lW3RuxeEVFXNlA331a1QtuPZO%2BPMydshy%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7rotcrwZA $350 used] which gets you a lag-free, quiet machine with six NVMe slots.

<span id="audio-video-output-options"></span>
==== Audio &amp; Video output options ====

The Asustor Flashstor does '''4k60 out of its HDMI port''' just fine. Some cheap no-name fly by night minipc companies use old HDMI standards for their ports &amp; get stuck at 4k30.

For high-quality audio, having an '''optical SPDIF''' output is important. as mentioned before, this allows the digital-to-analog conversion to be handled by dedicated audio equipment rather than your multipurpose PC, which sidesteps the noisy nonsense you get when you try encoding video or doing CPU intensive things with headphones plugged in. You may not notice this while your headphones are turned up as you’re engaged playing an exciting game, but quiet passages of movies get ruined by this very easily. The Asustor flashstor includes an optical SPDIF audio output jack, allowing you to connect directly to most modern home theater receivers.

* '''Benefit''': Avoids the need for additional USB audio interfaces.
* '''Setup''': Use a simple $5 optical cable from Walmart to connect to your stereo system.

It has '''optical audio output'''. This allows you to plug the machine into a '''stereo receiver'''’s optical audio input, a discrete '''digital to analog converter''', or an '''integrated amp'''’s optical audio input for clean sound output.

HDMI carries audio, but if you’re like me &amp; have a separate audio setup from your television, you’d have to get an HDMI audio/video splitter to get HDMI video to your TV and SPDIF digital audio to your stereo receiver that goes to your speakers. Some TVs can pass through the audio digitally to your stereo receiver, some don’t, but even if they do this is an added pain in the ass. Having optical audio out makes this easier.

<span id="powerful-expandable-machine"></span>
==== Powerful, expandable machine ====

Even the cheapest Asustor flashstor handles 4K video effortlessly. [https://www.aaawave.com/asustor-flashstor-6-gen-2-6-bay-nas-quad-core-2-3ghz-cpu-10gbe-ports-8gb-ram-ddr5-6x-m-2-ssd-slots-diskless-fs6806x/ Higher end models] are '''twice as powerful as the server in this guide''' and only take a '''fraction of its power''', making them suitable as a starter server. Low end models have '''6 NVMe solid state drive slots''', but you can buy this with up to [https://www.asustor.com/en-gb/product?p_id=91 12 NVMe drive slots] which would give you 48 terabytes of NVMe storage for a server, with 10 gigabit ethernet for fast network transfers.

<span id="the-asustor-flashstor-can-be-a-starter-server."></span>
=== The asustor flashstor can be a starter server. ===

Using an Asustor as a starter server is a great idea. If you know you want a home theater PC, you’re going to buy something like this anyway; and even the low end model is powerful enough for most tasks. You can always demote it to a home theater PC down the line when/if you decide to put together a giant 200 terabyte monster like what is pictured above. like what I have pictured above.

<span id="dont-use-your-server-as-an-htpc-at-the-same-time-attack-surface-why-you-should-care"></span>
==== Don’t use your server as an HTPC at the same time; attack surface &amp; why you should care ====

The '''attack surface''' (or threat surface) refers to all the different points where a hacker could potentially gain unauthorized access to your system. This means that the more you install onto your machine, the greater the likelihood you turn into one of the poor schmucks in <code>/r/asustor</code> who got [https://www.reddit.com/r/asustor/top/?t=all owned by ransomware]. The more things a machine does, the larger its attack surface becomes &amp; the more opportunities attackers have to exploit vulnerabilities.

If you use the same PC for Kodi ''and'' services like Mailcow (mail server), FreePBX (phone system), Immich (photos), or Nextcloud (notes), you’re mixing a '''home theater interface''' with '''mission-critical infrastructure.''' Bad idea.

<span id="why"></span>
===== Why? =====

# '''Increased Exposure:''' Running Kodi means more risk of vulnerabilities from media files, plugins, user interaction, etc. If exploited, it could compromise your entire server &amp; everything running on it.

# '''Conflicting Security Needs:''' A server for mail and photos requires high uptime, strict access control &amp; limited exposure. A home theater PC is inherently less secure because it’s meant to interact with more devices, networks, &amp; potentially risky media.
# '''Damage Scope:''' If someone hacks your Kodi system, do you really want that person having backdoor access to your email, phone, or photos? Keep the two separate &amp; isolate them for better security.

<span id="why-not-use-it-as-a-router"></span>
==== Why Not Use It as a Router? ====

You might wonder, can your MiniPC double as a router since it has two Ethernet ports? These are 2.5 GbE ports, which is faster than the typical 1 GbE ports. It offers speeds of 250 to 290 MB/s. However, they use Realtek chipsets (likely the RTL8169) &amp; while you '''can''' use Realtek for a firewall, you really '''shouldn’t'''. This isn’t a meme like running your own self managed mail server. It’s just a bad idea. Don’t ever mix Realtek chipsets with FreeBSD based firewalls(which pfSense is).

<blockquote>'''IMPORTANT NOTE:''' Avoid using Realtek chipsets for firewall purposes. Stick to using your MiniPC as a home theater PC instead.
</blockquote>
<span id="being-silly-adding-eight-3.5-enterprise-class-hard-drives-to-the-asustor-flashstor-mini-pc."></span>
==== Being silly: adding eight 3.5” enterprise class hard drives to the Asustor Flashstor mini-pc. ====

Let’s say you chose to use this device as a server down the line. It only has NVMe slots for solid state drives. 24 terabytes of flash storage might be too little for you. If you want to use hard drives with it, you can’t plug desktop drives directly into it; but that doesn’t mean you can’t try. :)

You can actually add eight 3.5” desktop hard drives to an asustor flashstor if you bought one with a '''USB-C 4.0 port'''. If you’re looking to expand beyond NVMe, the higher end models with USB-C ports allow this. If you wanted to go crazy, you could get the following hardware. To be clear, this is ridiculous &amp; not recommended; but there’s something fun about doing ridiculous things. The lengths I have gone through to make use of hardware I already own are great, and I feel compelled to share some of what is possible with you.

* '''USB-C to PCI Express Card enclosure''': [https://www.startech.com/en-us/usb-hubs/2tbt3-pcie-enclosure This unit] allows you to plug a desktop PCI Express card slot into a computer that has a USB-C port. This is needed since the flashstor has no PCI Express card slots fit for desktop PCI Express cards. You might have to cut a hole in it for the SATA cables to come out of.
* '''PCI Express Serial ATA card:''' [https://www.ebay.com/itm/235464441248?_skw=Intel+RS3WC080&itmmeta=01JE2DYJ39X6E1NKT2GP1AS8V9&hash=item36d2c63da0:g:CCUAAOSwV-pmX3xi&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKkYGG99u%2FPOyPVfli1VueephfY%2BGqf7itGPMgXK9xShe8TO%2F13dLnEVBooi09dW9ucYYBmmKuUWb%2Bklu5F7ZOnOqT4ElYFOD5WYW%2BEopRsmt5d%2FkPeRRw017E%2BNG9Vw314EAe2bRQy6uCoaUvPIN8kyPH9KL4MntdQwmCFrwfF5uxIhLfnNUaA9I7KetS1rB%2BFQD9R2XPt0jqfIoa6Zm5MMxsDO1uvhf7Pj1CpfOr4sI6KcjRjJGboW3btGqsWtVMbkzNJJ6gIge4pvstvwwIwf3U8WSiTkw1aDplebZRVtYQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9yh-s3wZA This] lets you plug in another 8 serial ATA desktop hard drives.
* '''Mini SAS to SATA cable, SFF-8643:''' An [https://store.supermicro.com/us_en/supermicro-minisas-hd-to-4-sata-30-60-70-70cm-cable-cbl-sast-0704.html SFF-8643 adapter cable] goes between your PCI Express SATA card and your eight hard drives. You would need two.
* '''Power Splitter''': Needed for powering multiple drives, something like the [https://www.startech.com/en-us/cables/pyo4sata startech SATA power splitter].
* '''SATA drive power supply:''' You’d now need to power those SATA drives.
** Something like [https://www.amazon.com/Warmstor-Adapter-Computer-Connector-Converter/dp/B076WZ1N4K/ref=sr_1_1?crid=37QM5VOFZAM1Q&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.at93EUUqXo4LGsFjaIg29R-3dDWigqy5MVKmMfIc25yVZWtMqLDzaSH-DHMJYveHuMrs1bMeVSNTqIfDEcuR4zNnfmb44SYNvSe9ZIwYayzkeF5ujjqWWJoOQUxT8etauoS_V66crJBIkf0DITtJN6fJdcnduzoipt7rnRagWy14VBViEpoWeBAO0Fyfht6AfmB3Xn6ymUIyFiie2_j5yQOP5wGBtK2ng7o6GjnRfvY.7fqScExFcxLobhy3oP0mk34glrLTeHSzt46MPMK8Ro4&dib_tag=se&keywords=Sata+Power+Supply&qid=1733101321&sprefix=sata+power+supply%2Caps%2C281&sr=8-1 this] could power 2 drives at a time.
** Any PC power supply that can do over 10 amps on the 12 volt rail would suffice for eight 3.5” enterprise class serial ATA hard drives, but you see why this is getting silly.
** Either you are going to have to do some research to find a sleek looking power supply that does 10 amps at 12 volts to reliably power eight 3.5” enterprise class hard drives, OR:
** Short the green PS_ON wire on a desktop PC power supply to the black wire with a paperclip to turn it on. Desktop PC power supplies only turn on when they are plugged into a desktop computer, and this would only be plugged into the drives.

<span id="setting-up-your-home-theater"></span>