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A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.

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Encrypting data on local servers? (feddit.org)

submitted 2 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

26 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I am looking for some recommendations on how to secure the data of my physical servers (against physical theft), that I am about to set up. I am new to selfhosting but have a few years of experience running Linux on a desktop.

My usecase is a simple debian(?) server at home with Paperless ngx and Tailscale for when I am away from home.

The question is how to encrypt the data while still being able to keep the server updated.

Coming from Desktop my first thought was to simply enable FDE on install. But that would mean supplying the password everytime the server needs to reboot for an update. Could someone provide some insights on how often updates to debian require a reboot?

My second thought was to use an encrypted data partition. That way the server could reboot and I could use wireguard to ssh in and open the partition even when I am away from home for a longer time.

I am open to other ideas!

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

On Dell server hardware with the right cards/licensing, you can remove the need for physical access to the server to input an FDE password by leaning on iDRAC. This provides access to the console remotely during the boot process (and thereafter).

Alternatives exist that supposedly do the same thing, but I've never had to try them. Airconsole, pikvm, blikvm etc.

You can keep this interface unexposed by using wireguard to dial in when you're away, as per your original thinking. Just make sure the endpoint isn't on the server you're rebooting...