Secondary Pi

Summary

This article covers the steps for using a second Raspberry Pi to host a few network services and a storage device for backups.

Why a Second Pi?

The more you rely on your home server, the more you'll find that it's good to have another copy of the data on it in case disaster strikes. It's also good to have a second set of network services like DNS and LDAP.

Repurposing Old Hardware

You may have an older Pi that's not up to the task of running multiple applications like the Pi 4 can, but is still working. That type of hardware is a good candidate for a secondary system. The examples in this article use a Raspberry Pi 2.

Building the Basic System

The instructions here assume you've already built a system on a Pi 4. The secondary system uses the same procedure, but since it's not hosting any applications in Docker containers, several steps can be skipped.

1. Install Hardware and OS
2. Install Ansible
3. Configure Static Network Parameters

Configure Certificates

1. Set up a new CA
2. Trust new certs.
3. Issue a host cert on secondary host.

Install Cockpit

Mostly used to manage LVM.

Reference: https://davescodemusings.github.io/CloudPi/install-cockpit.html

Configure a Volume for Backups

First, Provision Stroage

Then, use cockpit to remove existing logical drives and configure for a single backup volume.

TODO: rsync cron job or backup software suite? Which one?

Configure Secondary DNS

TODO: zone replication or manual sync?

Reference: https://davescodemusings.github.io/CloudPi/install-dns.html

Configure LDAP Replica

TODO: Replication or one time manual export/import?

Reference: https://davescodemusings.github.io/CloudPi/install-ldap.html