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Community Box: Comparative Study of Self-Hosting Hardware & Software for Community Networks

🌍 Project goal:
To provide a practical, open, evidence-based comparison of small server hardware and management software as used in community network settings. The aim is to help CCCIs select and deploy the most suitable do-it-yourself platforms for resilient, local-first content and service hosting.

Hardware Tested

  • Zimaboard
  • Raspberry Pi 5
  • Intel NUC

Server/Service Management Platforms

  • CasaOS
  • CapRover
  • Yunohost
  • ZimaOS
  • Balena

Key Community Services Evaluated

  • Community portal (TinaCMS/WordPress)
  • Web radio (AzuraCast)
  • Community movies/video library (Jellyfin)
  • Internet traffic monitoring (Speedtest)
  • Traffic filtering/protection (PiHole/AdGuard)
  • Educational content (Kolibri)
  • File storage (FileBrowser)

What’s In This Repository

  • docs/: Methodology and decision process documentation.
  • hardware/: Installation logs, issues, and results for each physical platform.
  • software/: Detailed guides, issues and observations for each OS/platform.
  • services/: Notes on app deployment experience, config file samples, troubleshooting, per service.
  • tests/: Comparison for hardware/software, detailed application install/test records.
  • results/: Compiled comparison tables, power/usage spreadsheets, benchmarks, summary findings.
  • scripts/: (if applicable) Automation, benchmarks, or test scripts.
  • presentation/: Prepared slides for final webinar/presentation.

How You Can Use This Work

  • To compare local self-hosted server options for community network settings.
  • To replicate tests for new hardware/software releases.
  • As guidance for deploying community-first digital services in low-resource settings.

Getting Started

  1. See docs/methodology.md for test definitions and comparison criteria.
  2. Browse hardware/ and software/ folders for install/test logs.
  3. View the results/ folder for cumulative findings.

Contributing

Pull requests and issues are welcome! Please see our contribution guidelines.


Credits

Funded by LocNet and CCCI practitioners worldwide.

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Comparative Study of Self-Hosting Hardware & Software for Community Networks

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