Process of migrating services from cloud platforms to self-managed virtual private servers
Core Idea: Migrating from managed cloud services to self-hosted VPS solutions involves transferring both applications and databases while reconfiguring deployment pipelines, often resulting in cost savings and performance improvements despite requiring more manual configuration.
Key Elements
-
Migration Components
- Database migration (e.g., Cloud SQL to self-hosted PostgreSQL)
- Application hosting (e.g., Cloud Run to standard server processes)
- CI/CD pipeline reconfiguration
- DNS and domain configuration
- SSL certificate management
-
Technical Implementation
- Database export/import using standard tools (pg_dump/psql for PostgreSQL)
- Setting up systemd services for application management
- Configuring nginx as a reverse proxy
- Implementing GitHub Actions workflows for deployment
- Managing SSH keys for secure deployment
-
System Administration Tasks
- Creating necessary Linux users and permissions
- Configuring sudoers for controlled privilege escalation
- Setting up service autostart
- Managing firewall rules
- Implementing backup solutions
-
Cost and Performance Considerations
- Significantly lower costs (example: €50/month cloud vs €10/month VPS)
- Potential performance improvements due to dedicated resources
- Elimination of cold start issues
- Co-location of application and database reducing latency
- More predictable billing
-
Common Challenges
- Requires system administration knowledge
- Less automated scaling capability
- Manual security updates and maintenance
- More responsibility for uptime and backups
- Potential migration complexities for specialized services
Connections
- Related Concepts: OVH (provider example), Self-hosted PostgreSQL (database component), Systemd Service Configuration (application management)
- Broader Context: Cloud vs Self-hosting Tradeoffs (decision framework)
- Applications: GitHub Actions Deployment (CI/CD implementation), Nginx Reverse Proxy Setup (standard configuration)
- Components: VPS CI/CD Pipeline (implementation detail)
References
- Example migration from Google Cloud to OVH VPS: https://github.com/galeone/fitsleepinsights
#infrastructure #migration #self-hosting #devops
Connections:
Sources: