Hi fellow self-hosters,

I’m diving into the world of remote servers, and I’d like some guidance on how to start.

Here’s what I plan to achieve with my setup:

I have a Raspberry Pi 4 with 4GB of RAM. I’m based in Country A, but my Pi is in Country B. My goal is to remotely access and utilize my Pi in Country B from my location in Country A. Specifically, I want to use the Pi to download various content like movies, music, and books using the internet connection in Country B. Once downloaded, I aim to remotely transfer these files to my location in Country A, potentially through SSH, SCP, or a similar method.

I should clarify that I don’t intend to browse content eg movies on my Pi server in real time. Instead, I want to use it primarily as a means of downloading and, if possible, storage.

Now, here are my questions:

  1. What do I need and how do I start this process?
  2. Do I need to attach a few external HDDs to my Pi, and is this a good option? Currently, it has a 64GB memory card.

I’m open to any advice, recommendations, or resources you’d be able to help me kickstart this project. Thanks in advance for your insights!

  • No_Dragonfruit_5882@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I would use ssh with keyfile authentication to be honest.

    Just set it up, maybe install jdownloader etc on ur and you are good to go.

    (Maybe ddns if its a dynamic ip)

  • Tangbuster@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Can you let us know why you want to have such a seemingly convoluted method of downloading such media files?

    Why not download locally and directly onto your computer or server?

    Assuming you are wanting to sail the high seas but think of the Pi in another country as a method to get around restrictions, look into the following: usenet, vpn torrents, seedboxes.

    • Fried-Chicken-Lover@alien.top
      OPBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Sure,
      To but it simply and bluntly. I want to be to download torrents and a full proof way to transfer the data.
      Back in my home country (A) I can easily download torrents for movies, music, books without any issue. In my current EU country (B) I can’t as the laws are strict and what not.
      I plan to use the Pi, remote access it, download the torrent media in country A and then transfer the data via scp, SSH or whatever to my laptop in country B.

      How can I achieve this. what hardware do I need other than a Pi. what concepts should I look up. what networking terminologies do I need to familiarize with myself.

      • Tangbuster@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        I’m living in the EU myself and I’m also quite weary of just downloading, but amongst friends and myself, we just use usenet and sometimes torrents with VPN and as long as we are careful, downloading generally isn’t an issue.

        Of course, that does mean you have to pay for a service first such as VPN, and maybe that’s not something you are willing to stomach. This is definitely feasible. Your method might work but involves a lot of work to get it going and anything could take out that workflow. Downloading onto your local machine is generally going to be fine.

        Look into usenet, vpn torrents and seedboxes.

        • Fried-Chicken-Lover@alien.top
          OPBEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          This was very useful I’ll look into usenet, VPN torrents and seedboxes.

          As you mentioned you simply download torrents using a paid VPN eg surfshark, nordvpn etc. Is that enough? Does that work without causing any problems with authorities and what not?

  • zoredache@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Do I need to attach a few external HDDs to my Pi,

    Provably would be a really good idea to attach some kind of additional. The write endurance on microSD cards tends to be relatively low. So depending on your usage, it might die pretty quickly.