Experimenting with VMs is the way forward.

Basic networking knowledge is vital. And being able to configure your own firewall(s) safely is an important skill. Check out something like Foomuuri, or Firewald. Shorewall is brilliant for documentation and description of issues (with diagrams!) but it does not use the newer Linux kernel nftables and is no longer actively developed.

Go for it with Nextcloud.

I would also recommend at least having a shot at setting up an email server, although I would recommend pushing through to a fully working system. It is possible, and is very satisfying to have in place. The process of setting one up touches so many different parts of internet function and culture that it is worth it even if you don’t end up with a production system. The Workaround.org ISPMail stuff is a good starting point, and includes some helpful background information at every stage, enough so you can begin to understand what’s going on in the background and why certain choices are being made - even if you disagree with the decisions.

Python is great for server admin, although most server config and startup shutdown snippets are written in BASH. You will no doubt have already begun picking that up as you interact with your VMs.

I came here to upvote the post that mentions haproxy, but I can’t see it, so I’m resorting to writing one!

Haproxy is super fast, highly configurable, and if you don’t have the config nailed down just right won’t start so you know you’ve messed something up right away :-)

It will handle encryption too, so you don’t need to bother changing the config on your internal server, just tweak your firewall rules to let whatever box you have haproxy running on (you have a DMZ, right?) see the server, and you are good to go.

Google and stackexchange are your friends for config snippets. And I find the actual documentation is good too.

Configure it with certificates from let’s encrypt and you are off to the races.

Working here (UK).

And will be cancelled in 18 months with 2 weeks notice.

This approach sounds good.

I think the correct approach is both, if you have the option.

Most devices accept two name servers. Redundancy is always good, especially for DNS.

Edit: Forgot to mention! Another minor gripe I have is that my current 1 router / 2 routers-as-AP solution isn’t meshed, so my devices have to be aware of all 3 networks as I walk across my property. It’s a pain that I know can be solved with buying dedicated access points (…right?), but I’d like to know other’s experiences with this, either with OpenWRT, or other network solutions!

This works very well with OpenWRT on each AP and/or router device by using the same ESSID and password combo on each of them, enabling WLAN roaming and also 802.11r Fast Transition to allow your mobile devices to hand-off quickly from one AP to another as signal strength levels demand. With this enabled you keep the same IP address, and even SSH sessions don’t drop when you move from one AP to another, it all happens in the background. As far as the end-user is concerned it is all just one big happy wifi network.

802.11r is not mesh, that’s a separate thing but and you can do it with OpenWRT too. I don’t need to because I have ethernet to all my APs, so all the RF bandwidth is available for the last leg from AP to device(s), and not being used by back-haul from AP to AP through to the router as well.

In your use case I would consider grouping devices into categories and having a different wifi network for each category with the dhcp and firewall rules set accordingly.

VLANs on the ethernet-side might also be useful, but it sounds like most of your devices are on WiFi, so it might well be possible to get a “mature” setup without needing that extra complexity.

As others have said, backing these settings up and restoring them to a new device in the case of hardware failure is generally straightforward. Care is needed when replacing the broken device with a new one because of naming conventions varying from device to device, but the network logic, and things like dhcp reservations can be carried over.

Windows 98

If you weren’t at a university it was generally a challenge to get hold of disks. Downloading at home took forever on a 28.8 or even 56k modem (ie. 56 kilobits per second).

Slackware and Redhat disk sets were the thing, in my experience. But generally that only gave you the compiled code, not the source (although there was an another set of disks with the source packages).

If you wanted to recompile stuff you had to download the right set of packages, and be prepared to handle version conflicts on your own (with mailing list and usenet support).

Recompiling the kernel with specific patches for graphics cards, sound cards, modems and other devices (I remember scanners in particular), or specific combinations of hardware was relatively common. “Use the source, Luke!” was a common admonition. Often times specific FAQ pages or howtos would be made available for software packages, including games.

XFree86 was very powerful on hardware it supported, but was very finnicky. See the other posts about the level of detail that had to be supplied to get combinations of graphics cards and monitors working without the appearance of magic smoke.

Running Linux was mostly a enthusiast/hobbyist/geek thing, for those who wanted to see what was possible, and those who wanted to tinker with something approaching Unix, and those who wanted to stretch the limits of what their hardware could do.

Many of those enthusiasts and hobbyists and geeks discovered that Linux could do far more than anyone previously had been prepared to admit or realise. They, and others like them, took it with them into progressively more significant, and valuable projects, and it began to take over the world.

SSH along with the extra stuff it comes with like scp is the way forward.

The two following suggestions make use of secure shell.

Termux and then pkg install mc (MC is Midnight Commander)

Alternatively, if you are feeling brave and GUI, Total Commander here.

Consider using tar to create an archive of your home directory, and then unpacking that on the new machine. This will help to capture all the links as well as regular files, and their permissions.

Take a minute to think what else you have changed on the old machine, and then take another minute to think how tricky it would be to replicate on a new machine. Downloading the apps again is gloriously easy. Replacing configs, or keys and certificates, is not!

I normally archive /etc as well, and then I can copy out the specific files I need.

Did you install databases? You’ll want to follow specific instructions for those.

Have you set up web sites? You’ll want to archive /var/www as well.

I have never knowingly used Arch. Am I allowed to like this song?

Also, Taylor Swift, is that you?

Awesome. Now stick with it!

And remember, different isn’t wrong, it’s different.