Mama told me not to come.
She said, that ain’t the way to have fun.
Good point, I’ll consider MOCA. The main problem is that we have three sets (OTA antenna, satellite, and internet), and I’m not sure which are which, but figuring that out should be quite a bit easier than running cable. :)
I’m not planning on getting anything more than gigabit in the near future, though my city is rolling out fiber and claims to support up to 10gbit.
Same. My oldest was taller than most 6yos when they were 4, and even today they’re taller than most 12yos and they’re 10…
My second child is normal size, so if they’re together I can sometimes get away with sneaking them under the age limit.
Funny how timezones work sometimes…
Yeah, I don’t understand why JBOD with a decent chipset is so hard to find. I really don’t expect much from it, I just want to slide some drives in and have everything run consistently for a few months at a time. I’ll power cycle periodically to apply updates, so I’m not looking for 24/7/365 operation or anything.
FWIW, Level1Techs seems to recommend MediaSonic (timestamp is where he talks about reliability), but doesn’t give it a ringing endorsement. And that was one of the better ones he’s seen…
After a bunch of research, what I’ve found is:
Now I’m looking for compact cases that support 5 drives, like this one (a little too cheap perhaps?) or this one. It just seems reliable 4-5 bay USB-C enclosures just aren’t that popular.
Makes sense for single drives, but if I go with USB, it’ll be something like this with multiple bays, which will almost certainly support UASP. I also don’t want a hardware RAID controller because I’d much rather my BTRFS filesystem handle the individual drives than rely on some controller to not corrupt my data.
The problem, however, is that a lot of these enclosures use really crappy components. Sometimes drives will drop off for no reason and the entire unit will need to be power cycled. They also tend to require a separate power supply, which is also annoying. But if there’s a super high quality one for pretty cheap, the entire package (mini PC + enclosure) is probably smaller than pretty much any equivalent case. So I’m interested, I just haven’t found a good fit.
Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about. Fortunately, the previous owner seemed obsessed with phone and coax jacks, so almost every room has at least one of them. I could just run ethernet over those jacks, but I might be able to attach a string to them to pull in a proper ethernet cable. Then again, maybe I’ll just end up needing to drill new holes, idk.
I’m just not looking forward to doing it is all.
Yeah, I might end up getting one for that. My current TV doesn’t have ads, but does have enough smart features to have a Jellyfin app, so I’m good for now. But my SO wants a bigger TV, so that may end up being sooner than later.
Exactly. Just like any other kind of proselytizing, it’s better to just live by example and answer questions as they come. For example:
People aren’t going to change their behavior because you’re pushing something on them, they’ll change their behavior if they see something they want more than what they have. I think more people should self-host, but I don’t get anything from others switching, nor do I have much control over them deciding to switch.
Eh, I haven’t convinced anyone, but I have gotten questions from my brothers about it. They don’t come over often, but I’ve done a lot of work on my self-hosted setup, so I’ll probably show it off at our next reunion (next summer).
My brothers both want to host video, and they’ve asked about ripping DVDs/Blurays. I’ve now finished ripping my entire collection (took a few weeks), so now I’m more well-equipped to answer questions.
Yeah, I’d need to run cable if I moved my machines to a closet, and I’m putting that off. I do plan to do that though, so maybe someday. :)
I’m more interested in multi-bay enclosures, but as you said, the chipsets tend to be kinda crappy. And that’s what makes me hesitate to use these mini PCs, my use-case is for a NAS, but these enclosures are kind of expensive and seem to have pretty poor components.
So for now, I’m using larger cases to hold the drives. But it takes up a lot of desk space, so these mini PCs are very attractive, if I can get a compact external enclosure to work.
TerraMaster, Orico
I honestly have never used either of these, yet they show up at a lot of retailers.
ASUS is a bit sketchy these days IMO, so I try to avoid them.
I’ve heard good things about Proxmox, but I have no direct experience with it. That would be a separate box that manages the VMs and everything, and it has a remote GUI option (webpage I think?).
If you want something on an existing box, just use KVM directly, or a simple frontend like GNOME boxes. I don’t know about remote configuration, but once it’s set up, do you really need to check in on things remotely? KVM will do hardware acceleration (definitely CPU acceleration, GPU if you configure it properly), and it has no GUI by default.
The thing is, I don’t know what “well known brands” are in that space. It’s not something I buy frequently.
Next time, check out Level1Techs on YouTube. Wendell reviews a lot of these devices, and he’ll give pretty good feedback on what’s legit and what’s not. Ho has reviewed MinisForum for years and has consistently recommended them. Just be careful, because he also reviews the more sketchy devices and sometimes recommends them (but with caveats), so don’t assume that because it is covered, that it’s legit.
Anyone have experience with external HDD enclosures? I currently have two 3.5" HDDs, and I’d like room for two or three more. Reliability is pretty important to me, so something that’ll cut out periodically isn’t going to work.
As a bellwether, consider the current Libertarian Party.
I’d really rather not. The Libertarian Party has always been a disappointment, and that’s especially true with the Mises Caucus takeover. I think Chase Oliver’s nomination was more a rejection of the Mises Caucus than anything.
he not only failed to challenge the core of Covid ideology
Attacking him for his mask and vaccine opinions is silly, here’s how I interpret what Oliver has said:
Libertarianism is about personal responsibility as well as individual freedoms, and it’s reasonable to support both simultaneously. Having the freedom to not wear masks, not get vaccinated, and not social distance doesn’t mean you have to exercise those rights, you can still be a considerate human. That’s how I read his statements.
As someone who lived in a state (Utah) without lockdowns (schools were shut down for the last month and a half of the school year, and that’s it), Oliver’s responses read like my own opinions:
I fervently oppose any government requirements while strongly support following government guidance. Knowing what I know now, I would wear a mask and get vaccinated again because those are safe and effective ways of slowing the spread of COVID. Even today, I’ll voluntarily wear a mask if I know I’m sick out of consideration for those I’m around, as well as voluntarily distance myself from others.
His main failing was not being vocal about lockdowns. Here’s what happened in his state (he was running for House that year, and later Senate):
I’m certainly against the shelter-in-place order and I don’t know what enforcement looked like, but it only lasted a month or so, which is way better than many other states. The first few months of COVID were filled with a lot of confusion, so if anything, Oliver should be applauding Gov. Kemp for ending the shelter-in-place order when there was a lot of pressure to keep restrictions going.
Nearly a decade later, the American Right’s libertarian contingent has seemingly been dealt its final blow.
This is more a statement about the rot among conservatives than anything to do with libertarianism. A lot of these “libertarians” were just fiscal hawks who don’t actually support libertarian principles and ideals.
tradition of American manufacturing
That “tradition” was because we were a poor country once, and when we grew out of that phase, we moved manufacturing elsewhere so our labor market could focus on higher value work. Why should we manufacture something here when our people could earn more by moving those jobs elsewhere?
It’s not like we have a huge labor surplus or anything, so bringing those jobs back means we’d have to give up more valuable jobs here. Unless, of course, we’re going to open up our borders and bring in lots of cheap labor, but neither major party is going to let that happen.
gold standard
The gold standard is stupid, why should we base our monetary system on some random metal? Why not put that metal to use in our economy instead?
The discussion shouldn’t be about fiat vs gold-backed currency, the discussion should be about centralized vs decentralized currencies. I’m 100% fine with the dollar being a fiat currency, but I also want some competition in the currency market. If I want to use cryptocurrencies, foreign currencies, or gold-backed notes, I should be completely allowed to do that. It should be on the receiver of the payment to decide what method of payment will be used, and any laws restricting or promoting any one currency should be revoked.
becoming the world reserve currency
Yes, this was a strategic move to cement the US’ position in the world.
huge trade agreements like Nafta, the EU, and the World Trade Organization were sold as free trade
Absolutely. In general, if you invert whatever a politician says, it’s probably more accurate. “Free trade” is about excluding certain countries and thus spreading influence to countries who do what we like.
I don’t see what any of this has to do with libertarianism though, this is just the neoliberalism espoused by both major parties.
But, when governments around the country literally took a sledgehammer to free association, free enterprise, free speech, even the freedom of worship, did the “liberty movement” fly into action?
No. The Libertarian Party had nothing to say, even though it was an election year.
Yes, the Libertarian Party is a disappointment, and has been since it was founded. If this is the article’s big thesis, it’s just stating the obvious with way more words than necessary.
Then there was the subject of vaccine mandates as imposed by businesses. The typical libertarian answer was that business can do what it wants because it is their property and their right to exclude. Those who don’t like it should get another job, as if that were an easy proposition and no big deal to hurl people out of their jobs for refusing an untested new injection they did not want or need.
Yes, that’s the good and bad parts about liberty. Businesses have the liberty to choose their own policies, and you have the liberty on whether to accept those or go elsewhere. You can’t eat your cake and have it too, choices have consequences, and that’s how it should be.
The vaccine companies were indemnified by law
This is the real problem here. We have so much protectionism that the motivations and market forces are all messed up. And it’s not just pharmaceuticals, but businesses across the board have way more protections than they should have, and that’s messing with the free market.
The article claims it’s a mystery, but it really isn’t. Governments siding with powerful corporate interests is a tale as old as time, and the start of it, IMO, was the 16th amendment to allow the federal government to directly tax the population. This is where the government really switched from being a policeman to being more involved in the economy and establishing regulations. That was a domino effect that eventually led to companies lobbying for more legal protections.
libertarianism needs to rediscover sincere passion and a willingness to tell the truth in hard times, same as motivated abolitionist movements in the past
Agreed. But the problem is that with everything being so polarized, the moment you attempt to speak up, you get shouted down by some larger organization.
So you need to pick your battles, and I think Chase Oliver has done a decent job of doing that. Articles like this cutting his feet out from under him really aren’t helping matters. So instead of putting a spokesperson down for not going far enough, we should be applauding them when they do take a stand (i.e. applauding Trump on his rare Libertarian statements at the convention, and booing him the rest of the time), and Chase Oliver has his fair share of hot takes that should be applauded and repeated.
My take is that this article is a part of the problem it claims to want to solve. It’s presenting it’s own flavor of libertarianism (they really care about opposing COVID responses, but that’s not really relevant right now), and trying to cut down anyone who doesn’t meet that standard. That’s unhelpful, and just adds to the infighting we already have.
Anyway, that’s my take, thanks for posting!
Which is really weird IMO.
If you want to run everything over a VPN, you’re going to have issues when the internet goes out. Use VPN as a fallback or to get around CGNAT, not as a primary way of routing everything.
Here’s my setup:
So when I connect on my LAN, my router just points the domain to the machine running Jellyfin and I get all the goodness of TLS. When I connect outside my LAN, my VPS tunnels TLS through the WireGuard VPN to get around CGNAT and I get all the goodness of TLS. So it doesn’t matter where I connect, I use the same URL and get TLS.
My setup is pretty simple. I use static DNS on my router, which points my jellfin domain to the local address when on my LAN, and I set up DHCP to point my devices to use my router for DNS. It’s incredibly simple, so all I do is type in my jellyfin domain and it works optimally wherever I am.
I actually had my internet go out for a couple hours and we were able to watch our content just fine.
He has cheaper ones too, so check around the shop and find one that fits your requirements.