Feddit.frNexalta Guardian: Decent self host server?
Cooper8I have been looking into setting up a secure home/small business server and hardening my local network and I came across this kickstarter which is currently floundering, likely because it’s campaign page is way too technical without enough fluff for the uninformed out there (like myself to some extent). For reference I work in small industry and have some interest in implementing more IOT, and also want to self host more of my media probably via Jellyfin, and an indieweb site, possibly some AI automation via n8n.
That said, from what I can tell it seems like a really great device for my use case actually, combining a multiband WiFi 7 gateway with a built in NAS and upgradeable compute modules. As a bonus it is a German company so I’m a bit less worried about back doors that with some of the Chinese generic manufacturers out there. That said, I haven’t run a server of my own before and am not sure what to make of the hardware specifications.
What I can’t sus out is how secure this actually is, how technical my background needs to be to get it set up effectively, and whether the price is good for the hardware. Any help?
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I’d rather just build a separate router/firewall with opnsense and a separate NAS than put everything on one device and attach it to the Internet.
Dr JekellIt is likely floundering because anyone with more than beginner networking/security knowledge know that having everything combined is a very very bad idea.
Having it all in one means that when someone gets access to it, they get access to everything.
You are much better off having separate devices for:
- Router/firewall
- NAS device
- WiFi Access Point
- Server
- Switch
And you should be using VLAN’s to only allow devices access to what they need.
And as a plus having everything separated means if one device breaks or you need to upgrade, you only have to replace that one part instead on replacing the all in one device costing 50 times more.
on the flip side, a wifi 7 access point, firewall, NAS, server, and network switch in this performance range are going to cost a bit more by my reckoning. I do see your point about repairability and reliability, one power supply for all of it could be problematic.
As far as security, couldn’t most of what you mentioned be effectively achieved in software if implemented correctly? Looking at the company website, that seems to be their primary focus area.
Lots of claims in here, but no specificity. I can tell WHAT they are selling: the hardware, or a software platform.
I’m also confused because they seem to missing the mark of what a useful piece of tech is for home users. Having everything all-in-one just compounds single points of failure. Also super confusing why they’re mentioning LTE and Starlink into this…makes it seem pretty stupid.
Honestly, if you’re just getting started, grab a cheap refurb from the Minisforum store, get a stack started and figure out what you actually, then make more informed decisions from there.
If you’re planning on hosting a large media collection, you probably want a NAS, which can also double duty for the other things you want to do as well in most cases if it supports running containers.
Its a commercial product fundamentally. Looking at the company’s site its clear this is an attempt to sell their commercial/enterprise “private cloud” node hardware to the general public but they’ve botched the marketing.
Medical and Transport are their core business, and they are a software-first company that has built a hardware solution for ready drop-in of their secure private cloud server software stack.
https://www.nexalta.net/blog-news/11
Looking at NAS options is how I found this, I got suggested a few NAS kickstarters, but the hardware on this one seems to be superior over all. Too bad the documentation sucks.
I would steer clear of just getting something from Kickstarter. Just go for something solid with an existing community. Synology is good for beginners, or you could just build one and install the NAS OS of your choice like TrueNAS or OMV.