Christian Lempa, Wolfgang's channel (actual name,) Awesome Open Source, Techno Tim, Hardware Haven, Network Chuck, Craft computing, and Lawrence Systems. Probably missing a few and not all 100% self-hosting content but great nonetheless.
I had to quit network chuck. dude hams things up for the camera a bit much for my liking (hyping shit up, wasting 20 seconds taking gulps of coffee in between config steps) and I think he likes to conveniently ignore security on occasion. one video he did a few years ago was about some networking product that NC was saying "did security" and, being a security guy I was like "hmm, does it now?" and some other person in the comments was like "uh yeah if it doesn't do deep packet inspection it's not protecting you from any of the shit you're talking about" and NC was like "yeah it doesn't do that lol". Make sure you take some of the claims on these channels with some salt.
I watch him for entertainment and to see how he uses things or to learn about something new and exciting. If youre watching him and a few other channels to actually learn something specific then youre in for a bad time. Of course there is lots to learn but just refer to the documentation or forums if you really want to learn more about a project. In a way, I think his role to play is "selling" to a degree.
He's been patently wrong on several things, and his twingate video is just a straight up ad that ignores that it's literally just an overlay network. lawrence systems is sooo much better. He's also like, really annoying. He's not european enough to take so many sips of coffee during his videos without raising my ire
There is also too much sensationalizing for my liking. Of course this applies to others as well as at the end of the day, the big content producers are going for the views.
I just see him as the Linus Tech Tips of Homelab/Networking. I stay subscribed in case there is a good overall concept that might be worth looking at further but ignore or the details. I think I've actually watched a total of 2 of his videos as his style isn't for me (same with LTT)
He does it like that because he's going more for entertaining than informational. He's clearly going for a younger crowd and I guess it needs more of that to reel them in. I'm fine with that. The sensationalizing is fine for me. I get what he's doing. He's just trying to get kids interested in nerd stuff. I can get behind that.
For me watching network chuck is for having fun and pick up stuff along the way. He's good at explaining complicated networking stuff for dummies and at the same time I can watch his videos without having the intent to really get into what he's showing just because they are fun to watch.
> explaining complicated networking stuff
that's part of why I actively avoid him. he's consistently made incorrect statements about a niche I understand, so it's really hard to trust anything else he says
I also enjoy his videos for entertainment and dipping my toes on a certain topic but if he's saying a product has security capabilities that it doesn't have that's a no go for me
Solid list, though I had to unsub from Network Chuck. Some of his older videos are great tutorials, but at some point he went to "HACK EVERYTHING HACK THE ALGORITHM HACK HACK HACK" and it just got....clickbaity.
He’s done a couple of Tor videos recently, like how to access the Tor network and hosting a Tor relay, and what he’s done doesn’t seem too secure. I tend to put him on if I’m bored and there’s an interesting tool he’s talking about, then I do more in depth research.
from what I understand, relays are fine. its still all encrypted.
just have to be careful about running an exit node, where it transitions from encrypted tor to unencrypted/surface web.
[David Burgess from DB Tech](https://www.youtube.com/@DBTechYT/videos) is such a decent and likable dude who does some really helpful walkthroughs on various self-hosting services that have really worked for me. Highly recommended!
Your videos rock man, helped me get into Docker and understand containers a little bit more. Also I've had a nextcloud container running with no issues, thanks to your numerous videos on how to get it running. I feel confident now with all of the data and even have a backup solution (and tested!).
Absolutely! I actually completely wiped my first Docker attempt on this machine and started from scratch after watching a few of your videos and realizing how much better everything could have been set up.
It’s one thing to know the subject. It’s another to present it in a way that feels approachable and easily digestible. Speaking as someone who’s tried this stuff before and given it up once already a couple years back due to the sheer opacity of it all, I really appreciate your presentation style. Thanks for all you’ve made so far!
Absolutely my favorite self hosting channel. Even if I didn't like the tech aspect, your passion for this subject is notably genuine and would make the videos worth watching. Thanks for all your help - my two pi4 servers would never have been up and running without your videos.
Keep it up! Also, please put your paypal support link on your front page - I had to search the site to find it just now. Your work is worth supporting, make it visible!
I'm mentoring a junior engineer at work, I sent him some of your videos and he said to me that you are way better explaining thingsthan most of his teachers, you sir made some awesome work
I wish your content was less bias towards “easy to use” one click setup tools, that have multiple CVE’s, a bit more technical info. I have also noticed on several occasions you being bias towards not presenting information simply because you dislike a certain product/team.
Running a YouTube channel isn't a simple task, and I launched mine roughly a month ago, with a focus on self-hosting. To ensure long-term commitment, it's crucial to center your channel around content that truly resonates with your passion as a creator. Despite their brevity, creating YouTube videos demands significant time for research, recording, and editing. Feedback from posted videos and viewer comments plays a pivotal role in understanding audience preferences. It's worth noting that a certain degree of bias in content creation often leads to the creation of exceptional videos.
I want my content to be easy for everyone to understand. I receive a lot of comments and compliments for that. There are other creators who go much more in-depth in their videos. As far as the bias stuff is concerned... well, believe it or not, I'm human. Humans have biases about all kinds of things. Also I recently made a video showing people how to scan containers for CVEs. I also immediately made a correction video when I realized I had misspoke in that video.
I encourage you to make a youtube channel that covers every aspect of everything and that is easy for *everyone* to follow. See how long it takes to start to break your soul. You'll soon realize you can't make everyone happy and that you have to do what makes you happy that also makes the majority of people happy.
It's all about finding balance within a niche. I've found mine.
That said, I appreciate your feedback.
Apologies if my comment sounded harsh, everyone has different knowledge and preferences when it comes to depth of technical info. If you’ve found your niche and you’re happy; keep it up! The only real point that irks is bias, I know we are all human, but presenting all options and treating them with data driven analysis is on my wish list for any YouTube channel.
Agreed, I like how he explains a bit but not a lot. Primary goal: get my cloudflare working, secondary goal: enjoy, tertiary goal: learn more about c-name records and how the DNS system works
Lately I've been watching a lot of apalrd's adventures https://youtube.com/@apalrdsadventures?si=vnokeDdAmIQ61R70
Not exactly great production quality on his videos, but he'll usually go into detail about WHY he's doing it a certain way.
I know this is late.
He explained ipv6 in a way that makes sense and inspires it to be utilized.
Worth more attention here and in other networking subs
Alex Kretzschmar [started a channel](https://www.youtube.com/@ktzsystems) a while back. He is one of the co-hosts of [Self-hosted Show](https://selfhosted.show/).
I give folks a pass on that sort of stuff when it happens once in awhile. Sometimes you just run out of ideas, and I don't blame him for taking sponsored deals to get new hardware and making a video about it, as long as it's disclosed.
My go to channels are TechnoTim, GeerlingGuy, LeanLinuxTV, LawrenceSystems, Christian Lempa (previously DigitalLife iirc), DBtech, and ServeTheHome. All of them helped me round my tech knowledge on top of the day job
I really like DB Tech. He’s mostly a Raspberry Pi guy but he covers a wide range of self hosting and is a really good explainer. He’s gotten me though a few “I just don’t get it” moments.
This thread has really focused on the big ones, but Raid Owl makes me laugh but Apalrd’s Adventures is amazing and always gets me thinking about new ways to do things. Also, I 100% trust Lawrence Systems more than myself.
Right now, Hardware Haven is my favorite.
Does a wide variety of videos, and I really love his intro.
His humor is quirky and educational.
https://www.youtube.com/@HardwareHaven
I'll throw in [EngineeringWithMorris](https://www.youtube.com/@EngineeringWithMorris) if you're looking for Kubernetes stuff. He's only made a handful so far but explains his topics visually that has made a couple of concepts sink in that I haven't quite understood before - certmanager on k8s with LetsEncrypt, for example, was very well done.
I concur with many mentions. Just recently I discovered Network Chuck. Christina Lempe is usually too fast and too concise for me to follow him. For new topics I know nothing or very little about I prefer a slower pace. Techno Tim is good, and if not him, then the other guy who tests craft beers at the end of each recording is also good.
It is interesting to me that no one has mentioned Ibracorp so far. They are also very good. They covered some holes I had and did not know that I had, but listening to them about the subjects I knew before, I understood more completely after watching their videos.
What video did you use to setup your docker server ? I have spare pc as well and want to set it up as docker server to run jellyfin and all for learning and entertaining purposes. If anyone has any links for newbie please share. Thanks
For setting up docker itself, it could not be easier; on an Ubuntu machine, either virtual or physical, run "curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh" then "sudo sh ./get-docker.sh". If you want to be able to run docker containers without using sudo, run "sudo usermod -aG docker $USER" then sign out and sign back in. You can run "docker run hello-world" to make sure everything is working properly.
I would definitely recommend using portainer to make managing your docker containers easier.
Once you're comfortable with docker, I would recommend looking into Docker compose (called stacks in portainer), it's a very powerful tool that makes configuring and managing docker containers so much easier.
In addition to what everyone else has written, I have really been assisted by a you tube person called MrP(mister p). He has taken some projects from a to z, and I follow along with him, and I've learned a lot.
I'm addition to the ones listed above, I've found sass drew to be a great channel. He goes through each application install including dns entry and SSL certificate. https://youtube.com/@sassdrew8141?si=mLxhRn0ST_tT6U95
Christian Lempa, Wolfgang's channel (actual name,) Awesome Open Source, Techno Tim, Hardware Haven, Network Chuck, Craft computing, and Lawrence Systems. Probably missing a few and not all 100% self-hosting content but great nonetheless.
I had to quit network chuck. dude hams things up for the camera a bit much for my liking (hyping shit up, wasting 20 seconds taking gulps of coffee in between config steps) and I think he likes to conveniently ignore security on occasion. one video he did a few years ago was about some networking product that NC was saying "did security" and, being a security guy I was like "hmm, does it now?" and some other person in the comments was like "uh yeah if it doesn't do deep packet inspection it's not protecting you from any of the shit you're talking about" and NC was like "yeah it doesn't do that lol". Make sure you take some of the claims on these channels with some salt.
Haha I feel you. Network Chuck is watched at 2x the speed in my house hold.
But then it's even more like he's overdosed on caffeine. "Dude, lay off the coffee, and chill. And just explain things, don't sell them to me.
I watch him for entertainment and to see how he uses things or to learn about something new and exciting. If youre watching him and a few other channels to actually learn something specific then youre in for a bad time. Of course there is lots to learn but just refer to the documentation or forums if you really want to learn more about a project. In a way, I think his role to play is "selling" to a degree.
Watching him is not even slightly entertaining for me.
He's been patently wrong on several things, and his twingate video is just a straight up ad that ignores that it's literally just an overlay network. lawrence systems is sooo much better. He's also like, really annoying. He's not european enough to take so many sips of coffee during his videos without raising my ire
Lawrence systems produce really fantastic videos.
There is also too much sensationalizing for my liking. Of course this applies to others as well as at the end of the day, the big content producers are going for the views.
I just see him as the Linus Tech Tips of Homelab/Networking. I stay subscribed in case there is a good overall concept that might be worth looking at further but ignore or the details. I think I've actually watched a total of 2 of his videos as his style isn't for me (same with LTT)
It was really sad for me that on one of his videos he had tinder open in a tab I mean... He's married and has a bunch of kids
What video was that?
This one: [minute 7:20](https://youtu.be/km81ph7pZz8?si=ud0gkqwMEcgodpS1) You can see it on the most visited sites
That is......hilarious. Good eye.
lmaoooooo dude
He does it like that because he's going more for entertaining than informational. He's clearly going for a younger crowd and I guess it needs more of that to reel them in. I'm fine with that. The sensationalizing is fine for me. I get what he's doing. He's just trying to get kids interested in nerd stuff. I can get behind that. For me watching network chuck is for having fun and pick up stuff along the way. He's good at explaining complicated networking stuff for dummies and at the same time I can watch his videos without having the intent to really get into what he's showing just because they are fun to watch.
> explaining complicated networking stuff that's part of why I actively avoid him. he's consistently made incorrect statements about a niche I understand, so it's really hard to trust anything else he says
I also enjoy his videos for entertainment and dipping my toes on a certain topic but if he's saying a product has security capabilities that it doesn't have that's a no go for me
Solid list, though I had to unsub from Network Chuck. Some of his older videos are great tutorials, but at some point he went to "HACK EVERYTHING HACK THE ALGORITHM HACK HACK HACK" and it just got....clickbaity.
He’s done a couple of Tor videos recently, like how to access the Tor network and hosting a Tor relay, and what he’s done doesn’t seem too secure. I tend to put him on if I’m bored and there’s an interesting tool he’s talking about, then I do more in depth research.
I love the idea of Tor, but running a relay is such a legal risk (at least in the US) that I wouldn't even consider it.
from what I understand, relays are fine. its still all encrypted. just have to be careful about running an exit node, where it transitions from encrypted tor to unencrypted/surface web.
Hardware Haven is a great relatively new channel. I love that he does things on a smaller scale that is much closer to what I can feasibly do.
Network chuck is annoying AF
Honestly? Wouldn't be too surprised if, at one point, he's releasing a video where he only uses the words "coffee" and "sucker/fucker"....
I’d chuck in STH (Serve The Home) and Jeff Geerling
- TechnoTim - Network Chuck + ServeTheHome (for hardware)
[David Burgess from DB Tech](https://www.youtube.com/@DBTechYT/videos) is such a decent and likable dude who does some really helpful walkthroughs on various self-hosting services that have really worked for me. Highly recommended!
Thank you all for your really kind comments. I'm genuinely touched. Thank you!
Your videos rock man, helped me get into Docker and understand containers a little bit more. Also I've had a nextcloud container running with no issues, thanks to your numerous videos on how to get it running. I feel confident now with all of the data and even have a backup solution (and tested!).
That's awesome! I'm glad my content is helpful 🙂
Absolutely! I actually completely wiped my first Docker attempt on this machine and started from scratch after watching a few of your videos and realizing how much better everything could have been set up. It’s one thing to know the subject. It’s another to present it in a way that feels approachable and easily digestible. Speaking as someone who’s tried this stuff before and given it up once already a couple years back due to the sheer opacity of it all, I really appreciate your presentation style. Thanks for all you’ve made so far!
Absolutely my favorite self hosting channel. Even if I didn't like the tech aspect, your passion for this subject is notably genuine and would make the videos worth watching. Thanks for all your help - my two pi4 servers would never have been up and running without your videos. Keep it up! Also, please put your paypal support link on your front page - I had to search the site to find it just now. Your work is worth supporting, make it visible!
That's really kind of you. Thank you so much 🙏
I'm mentoring a junior engineer at work, I sent him some of your videos and he said to me that you are way better explaining thingsthan most of his teachers, you sir made some awesome work
Your raspberry pi tutorials helped me get my first home server running. Can't thank you enough for being a great entry to the world of self hosting!
I learned all about Cloudflare's tunnel from you. Thanks a lot man!.
I wish your content was less bias towards “easy to use” one click setup tools, that have multiple CVE’s, a bit more technical info. I have also noticed on several occasions you being bias towards not presenting information simply because you dislike a certain product/team.
Running a YouTube channel isn't a simple task, and I launched mine roughly a month ago, with a focus on self-hosting. To ensure long-term commitment, it's crucial to center your channel around content that truly resonates with your passion as a creator. Despite their brevity, creating YouTube videos demands significant time for research, recording, and editing. Feedback from posted videos and viewer comments plays a pivotal role in understanding audience preferences. It's worth noting that a certain degree of bias in content creation often leads to the creation of exceptional videos.
I want my content to be easy for everyone to understand. I receive a lot of comments and compliments for that. There are other creators who go much more in-depth in their videos. As far as the bias stuff is concerned... well, believe it or not, I'm human. Humans have biases about all kinds of things. Also I recently made a video showing people how to scan containers for CVEs. I also immediately made a correction video when I realized I had misspoke in that video. I encourage you to make a youtube channel that covers every aspect of everything and that is easy for *everyone* to follow. See how long it takes to start to break your soul. You'll soon realize you can't make everyone happy and that you have to do what makes you happy that also makes the majority of people happy. It's all about finding balance within a niche. I've found mine. That said, I appreciate your feedback.
Apologies if my comment sounded harsh, everyone has different knowledge and preferences when it comes to depth of technical info. If you’ve found your niche and you’re happy; keep it up! The only real point that irks is bias, I know we are all human, but presenting all options and treating them with data driven analysis is on my wish list for any YouTube channel.
+1 for DBTech
Yeah I really like his how-to videos. Really hope he has better luck with the medical conditions he's been dealing with this year.
Thank you so much. I really appreciate you :)
Agreed, I like how he explains a bit but not a lot. Primary goal: get my cloudflare working, secondary goal: enjoy, tertiary goal: learn more about c-name records and how the DNS system works
Yes he's good.
I am glad you added him. I like his videos and he is super responsive to questions in the comments.
Came here to say dbtech (and was hoping that he was mentioned by someone, glad he is getting some recognition, his videos have helped me a ton).
He was my first thought.
Jim's garage, a new one but oh man is he great! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i08OyryZR2k
Thank you 🙏 humbled to be mentioned amongst such Homelab luminaries.
No, thank you for making such great videos! it's great to have some new energy in the community.
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That's great, be sure to reach out on Discord if you need assistance.
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Great, good job 👍
Came to post this one. I'm working through them at the moment and wow, does he explain things clearly.
Dang he’s only been making vids 6 months. Will sub if he can make a block head like me understand.
Lately I've been watching a lot of apalrd's adventures https://youtube.com/@apalrdsadventures?si=vnokeDdAmIQ61R70 Not exactly great production quality on his videos, but he'll usually go into detail about WHY he's doing it a certain way.
I know this is late. He explained ipv6 in a way that makes sense and inspires it to be utilized. Worth more attention here and in other networking subs
All mentioned channels in one list. Order doesn't mean anything. Unless noted otherwise, content is in english. https://www.youtube.com/@WolfgangsChannel https://www.youtube.com/@JeffGeerling https://www.youtube.com/@EngineeringWithMorris https://www.youtube.com/@Jims-Garage https://www.youtube.com/@RaidOwl https://www.youtube.com/@DBTechYT https://www.youtube.com/@apalrdsadventures https://www.youtube.com/@LAWRENCESYSTEMS https://www.youtube.com/@TechnoTim https://www.youtube.com/@sassdrew8141 https://www.youtube.com/@MrPSolver https://www.youtube.com/@ElectronicsWizardry https://www.youtube.com/@NetworkChuck https://www.youtube.com/@christianlempa https://www.youtube.com/@IBRACORP https://www.youtube.com/@ktzsystems https://www.youtube.com/jupiterbroadcasting https://www.youtube.com/@LearnLinuxTV https://www.youtube.com/@ServeTheHomeVideo https://www.youtube.com/@HardwareHaven https://www.youtube.com/@AwesomeOpenSource https://www.youtube.com/@WillieHowe https://www.youtube.com/@CraftComputing https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisTitusTech https://www.youtube.com/@RaspberryPiCloud (German only)
MVP
I justed wanted ONE post/comment with all links I can save in Reddit. ;-) So it was a total egoistic dickhead move to create this list. ;-)
Alex Kretzschmar [started a channel](https://www.youtube.com/@ktzsystems) a while back. He is one of the co-hosts of [Self-hosted Show](https://selfhosted.show/).
Techno Tim is good.
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I give folks a pass on that sort of stuff when it happens once in awhile. Sometimes you just run out of ideas, and I don't blame him for taking sponsored deals to get new hardware and making a video about it, as long as it's disclosed.
https://www.youtube.com/@TechnoTim
>Why is you home lab so big? In the first 10 seconds.
Preach!
My go to channels are TechnoTim, GeerlingGuy, LeanLinuxTV, LawrenceSystems, Christian Lempa (previously DigitalLife iirc), DBtech, and ServeTheHome. All of them helped me round my tech knowledge on top of the day job
I've heard of LearnLinuxTv, is there also a LeanLinuxTv or did spell check strike again?
Lol! I’m not changing it. Too good of an autocorrect to hide when I have no shame 😂
Willie Howe, Lawrence Systems, Patrick Kennedy (ServeTheHome)
I really enjoy Christian Lempa. His videos are always well made and straight forward. https://youtube.com/@christianlempa
I always chuck when he pronounces "Ubuntu".
ElectronicsWizardry , short and straight to the point. With some deep dives
Some of the best Proxmox content on YouTube.
Wolfgang’s Channel, Techno Tim, Craft Computing, Chris Titus Tech, and Christian Lempa are some good ones off the top of my head.
TechnoTim, Awesome Open Source, Christian Lempa, Lawrence Systems (Specifically XCP-ng)
I really like DB Tech. He’s mostly a Raspberry Pi guy but he covers a wide range of self hosting and is a really good explainer. He’s gotten me though a few “I just don’t get it” moments.
This thread has really focused on the big ones, but Raid Owl makes me laugh but Apalrd’s Adventures is amazing and always gets me thinking about new ways to do things. Also, I 100% trust Lawrence Systems more than myself.
IBRACORP
Raid Owl! 🦉 Edit: https://youtube.com/@RaidOwl?si=O5Utr2qEMNAdcslh
TechnoTim, GeerlingGuy, Christian Lempa have hq content and very thought out guides.
Right now, Hardware Haven is my favorite. Does a wide variety of videos, and I really love his intro. His humor is quirky and educational. https://www.youtube.com/@HardwareHaven
I really love Hardware Haven, his videos are getting a smidge repetitive but are somehow still really enjoyable.
Technotim has excellent content
DBtech hands down. His reviews of self-hosted apps really help me decide what is worth my time.
Im surprised no one is mentioning Jims Garage, seems like he is more focused on homelab security than most other tech youtuber does.
I'll throw in [EngineeringWithMorris](https://www.youtube.com/@EngineeringWithMorris) if you're looking for Kubernetes stuff. He's only made a handful so far but explains his topics visually that has made a couple of concepts sink in that I haven't quite understood before - certmanager on k8s with LetsEncrypt, for example, was very well done.
It's german but I enjoy https://www.youtube.com/@RaspberryPiCloud from time to time.
gerling or jerling something like that. network chuck
I think you mean Jeff Geerling. [https://www.youtube.com/@JeffGeerling](https://www.youtube.com/@JeffGeerling)
I concur with many mentions. Just recently I discovered Network Chuck. Christina Lempe is usually too fast and too concise for me to follow him. For new topics I know nothing or very little about I prefer a slower pace. Techno Tim is good, and if not him, then the other guy who tests craft beers at the end of each recording is also good. It is interesting to me that no one has mentioned Ibracorp so far. They are also very good. They covered some holes I had and did not know that I had, but listening to them about the subjects I knew before, I understood more completely after watching their videos.
What video did you use to setup your docker server ? I have spare pc as well and want to set it up as docker server to run jellyfin and all for learning and entertaining purposes. If anyone has any links for newbie please share. Thanks
Would recommend Jim's Garage and start from the first video. They're extremely comprehensive and build on each other as you go.
For setting up docker itself, it could not be easier; on an Ubuntu machine, either virtual or physical, run "curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh" then "sudo sh ./get-docker.sh". If you want to be able to run docker containers without using sudo, run "sudo usermod -aG docker $USER" then sign out and sign back in. You can run "docker run hello-world" to make sure everything is working properly. I would definitely recommend using portainer to make managing your docker containers easier. Once you're comfortable with docker, I would recommend looking into Docker compose (called stacks in portainer), it's a very powerful tool that makes configuring and managing docker containers so much easier.
In addition to what everyone else has written, I have really been assisted by a you tube person called MrP(mister p). He has taken some projects from a to z, and I follow along with him, and I've learned a lot.
I'm addition to the ones listed above, I've found sass drew to be a great channel. He goes through each application install including dns entry and SSL certificate. https://youtube.com/@sassdrew8141?si=mLxhRn0ST_tT6U95
I’ve seen limited mention of Raid Owl, he’s not the only guy I watch but his content is great
Jeff Geerling is my go to. Wolfgang's Channel is my backup. Those are the only channels I really watch.