this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2025
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I've been asked to set up a server for a research team at my university. I've already had the practice of setting a server at home, so I have a rough idea of how things should be done. Still, I wish to follow best practices when setting up a server for this use case. Plus I would prefer to avoid too much tinkering for the setup since I'm planning to keep the installation as simple as possible.

Following are some rough constraints and considerations for the setup:

  • Server computer is a Mac Mini (latest model I think?). I've been told they would replace macOS with Linux, still I believe I should ready if they don't (I don't have experience with macOS at all)
  • Server will be situated in university and provided a static IP address
  • Team needs remote access to the server, presumably comfortable with using CLI
  • I am unlikely to be permitted access to server myself after setup, so it should be ready to be managed by the team
  • Extra hardware and/or paid software could be arranged but to a limited extent and within reason

I don't think they have really any requirement other than having remote access to the server. I think SSH should suffice, however I was wondering if I could also arrange for backups, GUI server panel etc.

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[–] rainwall@piefed.social 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Backup is step one, or even step 0, of setting up a server. The amount of frustration and even job loss a backup can prevent is always worth the expense of time/money.

Backup can be setup scripts/config files/automation if the data doesnt matter, but you do need it. Also, even if they say the data doesn't matter, the data almost always matters. It may not now, but it will in 3 years when people use the server for real work and everyone just doesnt even begin to think about a backup until the server fails one day and they lose years worth of their grant and thesis data.

Backups can be simple, they can be complex. They can be free or pay, they can have gui or just be scripts. Settle on one that you can make work, and CHECK THEM OCCASIONALLY with test restores of at least a few files. If you dont test and find a working backup, you have hope, not resiliency.

[–] bergetfew@sopuli.xyz 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Could you suggest what would be the most appropriate backup solution in this case? I could also ask them to arrange a backup drive or a cloud provider if needed.

[–] rainwall@piefed.social 1 points 2 days ago

Depends on what you're doing a bit. Databases? Hypervisors? Just files? If all of the above, its best to use an actual product this. Either foss like borgbackup or Urbackup, or something like Veeam which is a popular pay option.

If its a proxmox hypervisor, they have their own free backup appliance, but you need a second physical server to run it on.

If it's just databases, most have a built in way to take a backup. Just google the name and backup. Make sure it's running automatically and is moved to a separate server on each run.

For files, rsync is a great option.