I'm interested in exploring the world of self hosting, but most of the information that I find is incredibly detailed and specific, such as what type of CPU performs better, etc. What I'm really looking for is an extremely basic square 1 guide. I know basically nothing about networking, I don't really know any coding, but it seems like there are a lot of tools out there that might make this possible even for a dummy like me.
Right now, my cloud computing is pretty much typical, I think. I use onedrive to sync my documents and old files. I need to be able to quickly access files on different devices, such as a powerpoint created on one device and presented on another. On my phone I use Android and my backups of downloads and photos and other data (messages, etc) are all on Google Drive /Google 1.
I'm willing to spend the time learning to an extent, but I'm not looking to become a network expert. I'm also willing to spend a little bit of money on hardware or a subscription service if necessary. Ideally I'd like to be out of this subscription service game, but the main goal is to be in charge of my own files. I have an old laptop running Linux to play around with and a fast and stable home internet connection.
Eventually, I would like to not only be syncing my files, photos, and documents in real time, but also I'd like to maybe try using it as an entertainment server to watch/listen to downloaded media on my home network.
Is there such a thing as a guide for a total beginner starting from zero? Is this worth attempting, or will I quickly find myself frustrated and in way over my head? Or, do I need to wait a little longer until more idiot-proof tools become available?
That's pretty much all you need!
When I started self hosting things, I literally ran the thing off my one and only laptop. Young me was getting into web development and I was fed up with the available free hosting options, so I was like, I've already got Apache running for development, I'll just open the port and point a domain at it. My friends would check if I'm online by checking if my website loads. Sometimes I had to turn it off because I wanted to use my computer and they kept hogging my connection.
Your old laptop will run NextCloud and Samba/NFS just fine even if it's a Core 2 Duo. Sure there's Plex/Jellyfin and they require a lot more power for live transcoding and stuff, but to start off, you can just play your stuff over a simple network share.
Then when you're happy or want to expand you'll have a better idea of what kind of hardware you want. I've ran my NAS of a Raspberry Pi 2B for several years, but ultimately always wanted at least one real server.
As for setup guides, I have none. But don't let yourself get too overwhelmed: there's so much stuff you can do with a server and just as many ways to set it up. One thing at a time: get the server set up, make sure you have SSH access to it. Then pick a thing you want to run on it, and try to figure out how to run it. Don't get too ambitious, you don't have to do VMs, or containers, or anything at all. Get something done, play with it, experiment with it, see what you like.
Docker containers are pretty good, they do make setting up some services pretty easy. Sometimes they also add additional complexity. It's okay to install things directly on the host.
There's no hard rules and everyone have their preferences. When the time has come you will know and you will be seeking solutions of the likes of Proxmox or maybe some cloud servers.
It doesn't have to be perfect from the first try. You will fuck it up a couple times, and that's okay, that's called experience.
Crawling low
Nothing wrong, but there are some benefits of running dedicated hardware and stable server distro. Rpi or laptop will probably use way less electricity, but if your PC is running anyway than you actually save money by not using any extra hardware