Turn your spare laptop or any other device as a server

Speakers: Orendra Singh & Vignesh

Track: Other

Type: Short talk (20 minutes)

Room: Kuthiran

Time: Sep 12 (Tue): 18:00

Duration: 0:20

Have you ever wondered what to do with a spare laptop or any other unused device? I certainly have. So, I embarked on a research journey to explore how I could repurpose my laptop as a server, with a focus on enhancing security and minimizing vulnerabilities. While it’s important to note that no system is entirely invulnerable, some are certainly more secure than others.

My exploration led me to self-hosted VPN solutions, which allowed me to connect my home laptop with its 10 GB of RAM and 3 TB of storage to a less powerful server with 1 GB of RAM and 50 GB of storage. This setup provided the foundation for my server’s operation, ranging from basic to high-performance specifications. Setting everything up took some time and effort.

In a nutshell, I established a VPN connection between my home laptop and the server, ensuring they were on the same network. Next, I implemented an encrypted secure tunnel using WireGuard. Additionally, I set up a reverse proxy on my server, enabling all requests to pass through it and reach my home server securely.

During my talk, I will delve into the details of this process and explain each step thoroughly.