Setup Personal Server to Use as Proxy/Off Site Backup

Hello all,

I have a simple issue that I think can be solved with several different methods. I basically want to create a personal server solution that allows me to do two things:

1.) I want to be able to remotely backup data to my server.

2.) I want to be able to pass traffic through it and use it as a proxy.

I am off to college next year and I want to leave a computer/server back home to do the two things stated above. I was thinking of using an Asus Eee Box PC like this:
Amazon.com: ASUS EB1007-B0410 The EeeBox Mini Desktop PC: Computer & Accessories

I want a low power reliable machine that will only be used as a remote solution. I won't be hooking up a monitor to it (that is, after I set it up).

It will be on 24/7 for easy access.

I will be accessing this server from a Windows 7 based machine.

I do not mind at all installing Linux on my server, but I am not an experienced coder so I will need software with a GUI that can help me set this all up.

All help is greatly appreciated!

 

You could setup Windows Home Server on it and then VPN into it to run your traffic through the box. However, unless your home has decent upload speed, then it isn't going to be very fast.

 

remote backup is slow especially for some home broadband. that means if is not suitable for big things. If all you want are for small things, microsoft's sky drive/live sync combo is pretty good, if you are not paranoid about 'data in the hand of microsoft'.

for really big things(like video), just get some elcheapo enclosure(depending on size need) and do local backup then periodically drop it to offsite place(like mom's house).

unless you are geeky, it doesn't worth the trouble of setting a server for this purpose.

 

I'd do first backup with computers while they are on same lan, then backup only the changed files. Also I'd skip OS, music and video files / games, they could be stored locally on external drive.

Basically only the documents you produce and perhaps photos are worth backing up on offsite location. Rest of the stuff can be obtained again if necessary. That reduces traffic a lot.

I have openvpn server on my home router and client on all my laptops. I can access my home network & files with couple mouse clicks and RDP to my computer there.

 

What I can suggest you is a small lite easy to use tool and most of all portable Usb web server with this you can do it

 

@klf

used to have the same setup, now running a linux VPS as the openvpn hub because my home router now is ISP provided and no longer been able to run openwrt etc. Have setup RDP port forwarding instead, for the case i am on a machine without openvpn.

no longer has WOL(on the router in the past) so have to keep one machine running 24/7 but being a low power notebook, not too environmental unfriendly.

 

This is what I want. I want a low power computer like the one I originally linked to, and be able to use it as both a proxy and an external backup solution. The download speed where I will be leaving the server maxes out at 12Mbits download, and 1.5Mbits upload. So sending large files to it should not be a problem. But, like you guys said, I can do the initial backup over LAN. Though the upload speed is poor, I only plan to do very light browsing when using it as a proxy. I am just surprised there isn't some easy way to do this because it seems to be an issue that would be fairly common. Should I set Joomla up on my server and do it that way?

 

I would not recommend proxy behind a home based broadband. Your's is ADSL with fast dl but slow ul. Using it as proxy means you are very much limited to the 1.5Mb ul speed.

Just find a cheap linux VPS as the proxy(which usually is on tier 0/1 rim and can give you full 100Mb speed). Mine is 5/month. I used it as http proxy, asterisk PBX and openvpn hub.

backup is another issue. As you can see, I don't like backup in this way but rather use sky drive, dropbox or amazon S3 which have multiple redundency builtin. If I really really want, I can setup my VPS as a gateway to S3 so it can be a Samba server to my connected vpn machines and seamlessly use S3 as the backend store. But too lazy for that now and I use Sky Drive instead.

EDIT:
BTW, an used laptop consumer less power than the one you show and is actually faster as well.

 

Thanks chimpanzee for the help. Do you think could setup Ubuntu server edition on my home server, slap Samba on that, and use that as a way to VPN and backup?

 

sure you can. it is pretty simple nowadays as ubuntu has made it quite GUI friendly in setting these things. I am a Debian die hard which is what I used for my VPS

another BTW, i used to hack a Xbox for this purpose but figure that the power draw is actually more expensive than my VPS

 

Like I said, when the server is running while I am away, it will be a headless setup (won't be using a monitor). Can I setup the server initially while using a monitor, then just unplug the monitor while the machine is in use when I am away? Also, how exactly does Samba work? Is it a GUI I can access from my windows machine while I am away, or is it SSH access?

 

sure you can. you don't even need a monitor but that is too geeky.

SAMBA is just linux version of shared directory talking SMB so you can treat it as just another window server for file.

you can do SSH for management or VNC if you prefer GUI for remote management.

But honoursly speaking, if you are not tight on budget it is easier to just run a copy of XP or windows 7 and use RDP for remote access but you no longer has the proxy function(well you do but need to find harder or just run a VM under it).

 

I would rather use SSH access. Is this something I can accomplish with FreeBSD. Or should I stick to ubuntu sever?

 

I am not a BSD guy but I assume it should be very similar but the linux pool of help is much larger and i assume ubuntu is more polished if you are not familiar with it.

 

What exactly is Samba needed for?

 

samba is a way for you to write files to the server. there are other options like ftp but with samba, you don't need anything else on the client side as even windows built-in backup program would work.

 

SO even programs with GUI are compatible with Samba? So I have the SSH or the GUI option when I am accessing my server?

 

SSH is for manage the server, basically you get a shell right on the server(i.e. local to the server).

Samba(thus SMB) allows you to see it as a 'windows server', so you can put file directly on that from your windows desktop via the explorer. It is not GUI desktop ON the server though. For that you need VNC or something like that.