selfhosting

Self-hosting is the practice of running software and services on hardware owned or controlled by the user rather than relying on third-party hosting or cloud services. It can be done on home equipment, a dedicated server, or a data center colocated server. The goal is to maintain data ownership, customize functionality, and potentially reduce ongoing costs for selected workloads.

Proponents value privacy, control over data, and the ability to tailor software stacks. It also enables offline access and long-term data retention, though it may require technical skills and time.

Common use cases and software categories include file synchronization and sharing (Nextcloud, Seafile), communication (Jitsi Meet, Matrix/Synapse with clients like Element), home automation (Home Assistant), media servers (Jellyfin), project management (OpenProject), and blogging or content management (WordPress).

Technical considerations: hardware requirements vary by workload; maintain Linux or other OS. Network setup includes static IP or dynamic DNS, TLS with Let's Encrypt, and reverse proxies. Containerization or virtual machines (Docker/Podman, Kubernetes for larger setups) are commonly used to deploy services. Regular software updates, backups, monitoring, and disaster recovery plans are essential; security hygiene is critical due to exposure to the Internet.

Pros and cons: advantages include data control, privacy, and customization; disadvantages include higher complexity, maintenance burden, potential downtime, and hardware costs. Compared with cloud services, self-hosting offers greater autonomy but requires more hands-on management and can suffer from scalability limits.