A small home-server checklist
Every few years I rebuild a little server at home, and every time I forget the same things. This is the list I now tape to the shelf above it.
1. Backups before anything else
Decide where the second copy lives and test a restore once. An untested backup is a rumour.
2. Updates on a schedule
Unattended security updates, manual major upgrades, and a calendar reminder so the second one actually happens.
3. Fewer services
Every service is a small promise to maintain it. Run the four you need, not the fourteen you saw in a screenshot.
4. Dashboards last
Pretty graphs are nice. A plain text file that says what runs where is better.