It’s the right move.
I tell you, the first time you’re sat in front of a CEO and an auditor and you have to explain why the big list of servers has a highlighted one called C-NT-PRIK-5 is when the fun stops.
Explaining that it’s short for ‘customer network tester Mr. Prickles 5’, and is actually a cacti server never really seems to help the situation.
At least a few of the customers got a laugh out of it being on the reports!
Username checks out
You had me digging through old hosts files and ssh configs to find some of these.
I try to name them something that resembles what they do or has something to do with what their purpose is.
Short is good, and if it can match more than one of the machine’s purpose/os/software/look, the better.
If it’s some sort of personal machine, it gets a personal name
Phones
Virtual Workstations
boxy
moxy
sandbox
cloud
ship lxc container host
dock docker host
Laptops
Desktops
Lots of people have been talking about products and tools. It’s docker, tailscale, cloudflare proxmox etc. These are important, but will likely come and go on a long enough timescale.
In terms of actual skills, there’s two that will dramatically decrease your headaches. Documention and backup planning. The problem with developing those skills is, to my knowledge, they’ve only ever been obtained through suffering. Trying to remember how to rebuild something when you built it 6 months ago is futile. Trying to recover borked data is brutal. There’s no fail-safe that you haven’t created, and there’s no history that you haven’t written. Fortunately, these are also the most transferable skills.
My advice is, jump in. Don’t hesitate. The chops in docker/linux/networking will come with use and familiarity. If it looks cool, do it. Make mistakes. You will rapidly realise what the problems with your set up are. You will gain knowledge in leaps and bounds from breaking a thing vs learning by rote or lesson. Reframe the headaches as a feature, not a bug - they’re highlighting holes in your understanding. They signpost the way to being a better tech, and a more stable production environment.
The greatest bit about self hosting for me is planning the next great leap forward, making it better, cleaner, more robust. Growing the confidence in your abilities to create a system you can trust. Honing your skills and toolset is the entirety of the excercise, so jump in, and don’t focus on any one thing to master or practice before hand!
I am doing the same, all I need is keepassdx to support passkeys now
Also, be aware that some USB-PD passthrough docks/devices will have enough resistance that it will drop the voltage lower than required for full speed charging. My laptop drops in to a lower power state when connected through a USB-C/PD passthrough dock because the mains voltage is lower than rated.
You’re a monster. My scps would go nowhere