Subtitle:
The practice of running software services on infrastructure under personal control rather than relying on third-party cloud providers
Core Idea:
Self-hosting is the practice of deploying and maintaining software applications on your own hardware or virtual private servers, giving you complete control over your data and services while reducing dependency on external companies.
Key Principles:
- Data Sovereignty:
- Maintaining physical and legal control over your data by hosting it on infrastructure you own or exclusively rent.
- Service Independence:
- Eliminating reliance on third-party providers who might change terms, pricing, or discontinue services.
- Customization Freedom:
- Having the ability to modify, configure, and adapt software exactly to your needs without platform limitations.
Media Management
- Jellyfin/Emby: Media servers for organizing and streaming personal video libraries
- Immich/PhotoPrism/Photoview: Photo management systems with AI features
- Navidrome/Funkwhale: Music streaming servers
- Calibre-Web: E-book library management
Productivity & Organization
- Nextcloud: File storage, calendar, contacts, and productivity suite
- Paperless-ngx: Document scanning and management
- Bookstack: Documentation and wiki platform
- Joplin/Trilium Notes: Note-taking applications
- Monica: Personal CRM for managing relationships
Communication
- Matrix (with Element): Encrypted chat platform
- Rocket.Chat: Team communication platform
- Jitsi Meet: Video conferencing
- Mail-in-a-Box/Mailcow: Complete email solutions
- Mumble: Low-latency voice chat
Home Automation & Monitoring
- HomeAssistant: Smart home control and automation
- Grafana/Prometheus: System monitoring and visualization
- Pi-hole: Network-wide ad blocking
- TrueNAS/OpenMediaVault: Network attached storage operating systems
- Uptime Kuma: Service uptime monitoring
Web Services
- Ghost/WordPress: Blogging and CMS platforms
- Gitea/GitLab: Git repository management
- Bitwarden_RS: Password management
- Miniflux/FreshRSS: RSS feed readers
- Wallabag: Read-it-later service (Pocket alternative)
Data & Analytics
- InfluxDB/Grafana: Time-series data storage and visualization
- Matomo: Website analytics platform
- n8n/Node-RED: Workflow automation tools
- ELK Stack: Log management and analysis
- Metabase: Business intelligence and data visualization
Network Infrastructure
- pfSense/OPNsense: Network firewall and routing
- Wireguard/OpenVPN: VPN servers
- Caddy/Nginx/Traefik: Web servers and reverse proxies
- Authentik/Authelia: Single sign-on authentication
Development Tools
- Portainer/Yacht: Docker management interfaces
- Code-Server: VS Code in the browser
- Jenkins/Drone: CI/CD platforms
- Kanboard/Wekan: Project management/Kanban boards
Deployment Methods
- Docker/Docker Compose: Container deployment
- Kubernetes (K8s)/k3s: Container orchestration
- Ansible: Configuration management
- Proxmox/VMware ESXi: Virtualization platforms
Personal Finance
- Actual Budget: Zero-based budgeting tool with envelope-style methodology
- Instance: Actual Budget en Pikapods
- Firefly III: Personal finance manager for tracking accounts, budgets, and expenses
- Invoice Ninja: Invoicing, payments, and time-tracking for freelancers and small businesses
- Inventree: Inventory management system
- GnuCash: Full double-entry accounting program (desktop application)
- Akaunting: Accounting software designed for small businesses and freelancers
- OnTrack: Simple expense and income tracker
- HomeBank: User-friendly personal accounting software
- HLedger/Beancount: Plain-text accounting systems for the command-line enthusiast
Connections:
- Related Concepts:
- Docker: Common technology for simplified self-hosting deployment
- VPS Services: Virtual private servers often used for self-hosting when home servers aren't practical
- Broader Concepts:
- Digital Privacy: Self-hosting is a key strategy for enhancing privacy
- Open Source Software: Most self-hosted applications rely on open-source solutions
References:
- Primary Source:
- "Self-Hosted" by Alex Kretzschmar and Chris Fisher (Jupiter Broadcasting podcast)
- Additional Resources:
- r/selfhosted subreddit
- awesome-selfhosted GitHub repository: curated list of self-hostable software
Tags:
#self-hosting #privacy #data-sovereignty #open-source #system-administration #infrastructure
Connections:
Sources: