Home Server Setup Journey - Part 1

So this just happened.

I’ve always been curious about hosting stuff on my own — running things from scratch, experimenting, and basically tinkering for fun. This week, I officially started setting up my home server.

🧠 Why?
Not for any huge reason. Just wanted to try self-hosting a few things — maybe run some Java apps, host my website, play with Docker, Kubernetes, and just learn. No fancy setup. No production-grade stuff. Just raw experimenting and learning on the go.

💻 The Machine
Got an HP thin client from a friend (I call him Wipro CEO ). It didn’t have WiFi and only had a DisplayPort, but luckily I had a spare DP cable and a monitor that supported it.

Installed Ubuntu on it right away.

🌐 Getting Online
No built-in WiFi, so I improvised:

• I had an extra WiFi router lying around.
• Hooked that to my main internet router.
• Pulled an Ethernet cable from the secondary router to the thin client.

Boom — internet on my home server.

Later, the Wipro CEO suggested I just get a WiFi dongle, which would’ve been way simpler — and probably save some electricity by skipping that second router.

✍️ Fun bit?
I'm writing and posting this blog from the home server itself. Just for the fun of it.

🛠️ Today’s Setup:

• Installed Ubuntu
• Ethernet networking via second router
• SSH enabled
• Static IP assigned
• Blog posted from the server 🎉

🧭 Next on the list:

• Docker & Docker Compose
• Kubernetes (minikube or kind)
• Self-hosted dashboard
• Jenkins for CI/CD
• Monitoring (Prometheus + Grafana)

This is just part 1. No roadmap, just vibes.

✌️
Vicky, cleaned and improved by chatGPT

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