I recently purchased a Synology DS409 (more on that another time). This has prompted me to restart work on something I have wanted to do since I moved into my apartment three years ago: build an infrastructure to house my e-mail, web, various media, and other content all in one place, all under my direct control. I also want these technologies to allow me to access everything as if I were home. This is not a difficult goal to accomplish– given the right equipment– but does require a number of moving parts that all need to work together. For example, the DS409 will now contain the web root for my web server which will run on a separate box. This not only unifies everything but also allows for RAID protection and backup of a single entity instead of worrying about monitoring several scripts on several boxes.

The following are the products/projects I am looking to employ:

• Synology (DS409): For a while I was looking at Openfiler but the Synology OS offers more functionally for roughly the same price plus free, fast tech support if needed.
• Linux (Ubuntu): This will be the platform most services will on. It is efficient with its resources and has a huge, active community.
• OpenVPN: This is provide direct access to everything while I am away as if I were not.
• TrueCrypt: For data at rest that that requires absolute secrecy.
• Apache 2.2 + PHP 5: Between the various Apache web servers and PHP I have gotten so much work done these are now staples in my environment.
• MySQL and SQLite: My tried and true database software for nearly as long as I have been working with SQL.
• Orb: An oddity in the Microsoft world, this server will stream my media to nearly any device while dynamically adjusting its bandwidth usage.

Most of these are open-source and free.