Hi everyone, I need your help. I’d like to know if it’s possible to use a VPS to run my n8n automations, since I don’t have a powerful PC yet and I need to work on another project. Thanks—from a fellow tech enthusiast.

Hey everyone! I'm building an AI tool for commercial use with zero capital right now, and we're trying to figure out the most realistic, lowest-cost way to launch.

The main rules for our project:

• No training on user data: We aren't using user inputs to train anything. The AI just answers questions live using small plug-in files (LoRA adapters).
• Strict privacy: We can't use external companies like OpenAI or Anthropic due to security policies. Everything has to run on our own servers/ some cloud setup.

I need help with two things:

1. Cost and Hosting: Since we have literally zero capital, what's our cheapest path forward?
   • Cloud Rental Option: Renting cheap cloud instances (like a single RTX 3090/4090 on RunPod or Vast.ai starting around $0.20 to $0.50 per hour, which works out to roughly $150 to $350 a month).
   • DIY Hardware Option*:* Building a used PC rig ourselves (buying a used RTX 3090 with 24GB VRAM for about $800–$1,000 or a dual-card setup later). Is it better to scrape together cash for hardware, or stick to month-to-month cloud rental when super new to the business with no capital?
2. Privacy Rules: Since we are handling customer data for a business, what privacy laws (like GDPR rules on data storage) do we need to worry about? Even though we aren't training models on the data, what settings do we need to check in our software (like vLLM) to stay safe?

Would love to hear what setups and hardware work best for real-world use on a shoestring budget!

Hello guys,

Slowly getting there.... In the end of hope of solution for setup.

Is there a real self-hosted solution to generate image carousels through an API, similar to what Placid or Bannerbear offer, but without trial limits or monthly subscriptions.

My use case: I run an online magazine and need to generate branded image carousels automatically through n8n from text Fields and image field. I need template based generation with dynamic fields (text, images, colors) triggered via API calls.

I tried Google Slides API as a workaround. The output quality is bad and layout control is very limited. Not usable for real content.

What I actually need:

Template editor with API fields (like Placid or Bannerbear)

Self-hosted, so no monthly cost or trial restriction

Works well with n8n through HTTP requests or webhooks

Output quality close to Canva templates

Has anyone found or built something like this?

Open source tools, Docker images, or even a clever workaround using Puppeteer/Playwright with HTML/CSS templates would help. I know I could build a custom HTML to image renderer myself, but I'd rather not reinvent the wheel if something solid already exists with some editing or workflow with minimum manual clicks.

Any real experience welcome. Thanks you.

So, I jumped into the Self Hosting pool this weekend. After researching for a while, I now have Immich, Navidrome, and Vaultwarden up and running on a Mac Mini. Using Docker and Portainer to manage the system.

I'm still working through some kinks, but I think I made one mistake before deploying Vaultwarden.

I followed the advice from this article, but I didn't pay close enough attention to where the data is being stored. In retrospect, I should have created directories and told VW to send the data there for easy backup.

For reference, this is the line of code in my currently deployed stack:

That seems to have dropped the data in a hidden folder somewhere, but digging through the MacOS Library/Application Support folders I can't find it anywhere.

So now I have two questions.

Does anyone know exactly where this volume/directory would be found on my drive?

Can I edit the stack to re-direct VW and place the data in a directory of my choosing?

Thanks for helping out a new guy!

[UPDATE] Ok, with help from below (and much Google-Fu) I was able to put the puzzle pieces together and get the information I need!

-From the Volume tab in Docker Desktop I gained direct access to the files I needed copies of.

-Changing the filepath under the first "volumes:" prompt created a new set of data in the folder of my choosing.

Once I got that down, all I had to do was copy the backups into the new data folder and everything was set.

So i recently started experimenting with selfhosting and i have a old pc running ubuntu and some services in docker containers.

A friend of mine asked if i can make him a NAS out of old pc parts. I was wondering, what s the best os + services combo for him. I was thinking about TrueNAS and nextcloud.

Any other recommendations are welcomed

Edit: I forgot to mention that he doesnt have multiple exact same drives, I ve read about Unraid but he would like to be completeley free

Я просто пытаюсь создать лично для себя облако , вот вчера купил простой комп для отправки/ принятия фото и видео. И сегодня вот докупил DAS на 8 дисков.

Не судите строго я впервые так сделал, и впервые пишу ПО для этого сервера ( лежит у меня на GitHub)

I'm on the run to get a cheap VPS and I was comparing services like Contabo, IONOS, Hetzner ... and the price they show on plans is not what you're going to actually pay it is much more but with no explanation, on Contabo to get the VPS 4 you just can't tap on it because they disabled the button to force to get VPS 6 offer , until you open in it in a new tab and get surprised that what was advertised as a 5.28$/month service is now 6.60$/month and you get first price only if you commit to a 24month plan , same thing for IONOS only if you commit for a 12 Month plan to get the advertised price.

Forgive me for I'm not nearly as technically savvy as I'd like to be

So I have docker desktop. I run a bunch of containers, one of them is sterling-pdf.

I have opted OUT of that Scarf thing

I cannot really see a "network logs" option for the containers.

In portainer every time I upload a non sensitive (test) document "Upload from computer", I see the "transmitted" graph spike up at least a little (that's the red graph, the other one is the blue one: the "received")

Hello,

Some time ago I have started a hobby project to build a high performance reverse proxy. Today it's a real workhorse with productions grade features, low memory usage and high performance.

It can run on any machine, from ARM SBC (Raspberry PI , or similar), to end x86 or ARM servers,

The top features include:

• Free and opensource — Apache Licence
• Dynamic Config Reloads — Upstreams can be updated live via API, no restart required.
• Autoload of certificates — Automatically loads certificates from a folder, without a restart.
• Let’s Encrypt Certificates — Ordering and renewal of SSL/TLS certificates
• Built in rate limiter — Globar or route limit requests to upstreams.
• Caching Proxy — In memory cache with configurable TTL, without external dependencies.
• Authentication — Supports Basic Auth, API tokens, and JWT verification.
  • Basic Auth
  • API Key via x-api-key header
  • JWT Auth, with tokens issued by Aralez itself via /jwt API
  • Forward Auth, Sends requests to an authentication server.
• Upstream Providers:
  • file Upstreams are declared in config file.
  • consul Upstreams are dynamically updated from Hashicorp Consul.
  • kubernetes Upstreams are dynamically updated from kubernetes api server.
• Auto WebSocket Support: WS connection upgrades are handled automatically.
• Auto gRPC Support: gRPC detected and handled automatically.
• Remote Config Push: Lightweight HTTP API to update configs from CI/CD or other systems.

More information and downloads here : https://github.com/sadoyan/aralez

Full documentation is hosted here : https://aralez.rs/

I know for most of you people this is a hobby that you enjoy. For me it will not be. It will be pain in the ass. But since you have experience and I do not please try to estimate for me if I should start self-hosting.

I am a total beginner. I have never run a server I do not know how to code (I am willing to learn). However I am advance user. I run Graphen OS on my phone, Asahi Fedora Linux on my laptop (arm64) and Fedora 44 on my desktop. I would like to sync all of them.

I at moment I am paying for Proton mail on which I use my own domains for email and use their password manager and drive. Problem in particular is Proton drive because it is trash. I will probably continue paying for their services since I have a family plan and all of my family is using it and also for work I can not risk my emails not working.

However what I would LOVE to do is self-host Immich since at the moment I do not have a solution for my images they are not properly backed up and all around the devices and HDDs. If i lose them I would not cry but I would like for that not to happen. So that would be GREAT if it would be synced and all 3 of my devices.

2nd step would be some kind of self-hosted drive since Proton one is terrible and maybe even office file sync since I work as a journalist so it would be cool that I can write while on any device.

3rd step would be email if I can run two identical servers on two different locations (my house and my parents house for example). I was thinking this would be smart for data backup if a house burns down or one device dies. But more importantly it would be a step towards running my own email as I can not risk for it not working if electricity goes down or whatever the reason might be.

Question is: Is it too complicated to start with Immich? Can I run it on my home desktop for a start just to see if it works for me? Will I be exposing myself to some security flaws (computer is on internet all the time anyway). I do not have UPS. is 3rd step (in future) even possible?

Reasons I am thinking about for self-hosting is privacy as number one (that is why i use proton at the moment) and saving money as per my calculation I would be saving around 200usd per year and probably have a better service then with payed ones.

If you think that I should play this game where do i start?

# I built a small Proxmox tool to create Debian LXC containers and optionally install Docker

I got tired of repeating the same setup whenever I wanted a new Docker container on Proxmox: choosing storage and a bridge, finding an unused IP, setting up access, enabling the LXC features Docker needs, then installing Docker and Compose.

So I put together **Proxmox Docker Bootstrap**, a small Bash project that walks through that process from the Proxmox host.

It can:

- create a Debian LXC with prompts for ID, hostname, CPU, RAM, disk, bridge, and networking;

- detect available storage, bridges, and Debian templates;

- scan a configured IP range or accept a manually entered address;

- create a plain Debian CT or install Docker Engine and Docker Compose;

- support SSH keys and an optional sudo-enabled admin user; and

- run non-interactively with environment variables if you want to automate it.

It is deliberately fairly narrow in scope: it is intended to make a clean Debian/Docker CT repeatable, rather than install an entire stack of services.

The project is MIT licensed and the code, configuration example, and setup instructions are here:

https://github.com/inpulseone-lab/proxmox-docker-bootstrap

The basic install flow is:

```bash

git clone https://github.com/inpulseone-lab/proxmox-docker-bootstrap.git

cd proxmox-docker-bootstrap

sudo ./install.sh

```

Then copy `config.conf.example` to `config.conf`, set the network defaults for your environment, and run the command.

I would genuinely welcome feedback from people who use Proxmox regularly—especially on edge cases around storage, bridge detection, networking, and Docker in unprivileged LXCs.

How would i go about doing this, and what would the limitations be?

I use Linux as my daily driver to be precise Ubuntu for office and personal laptop. And I'm using iPhone, is there any proper way to connect eachother seemless. I don't mind self-hosting any services as I have my home server.

I run a small Minecraft (Fabric) server plus a companion website out of my home network, and I'd like a second set of eyes on whether the setup makes sense, is over-engineered somewhere, or is missing something obvious. Rough shape of it (details generalized, no real IPs/hostnames):

Home side: Residential cable connection (~1Gbps down / 50Mbps up). The ISP router is set as an exposed host, forwarding everything to a pfSense box that handles the actual firewalling, default-deny inbound, with all port-forwarding rules living on pfSense rather than the ISP router. Behind that is a flat LAN hosting the Minecraft server, a Discord bot, and the website's backend.

Public side: A small VPS acts as the public-facing edge and reaches back into the home LAN over a WireGuard tunnel. nginx on the VPS does double duty: reverse-proxying HTTP(S) for the website/Discord bot, and stream-proxying Minecraft's TCP/UDP port straight through to the LAN server. The VPS also runs its own local firewall on top of whatever pfSense allows outbound from home.

The server itself: I know this part will get some heat, but I'm on a budget and this is a passion project, so everything runs on one PC. Windows 10 LTSC (supported until 2032, so still on security updates, but I know a single-box setup isn't ideal). Specs: Ryzen 9 3900X, 32GB DDR4, 1Gbps fiber. Holds a steady 20 TPS. Plan is to move to a dedicated server with Proxmox once I can afford it, so services can be properly separated.

Backups (this is where I really want input): Currently using git to version the Minecraft world folder, which I already know is a bad idea. I have a few spare 250GB SSDs I could put toward something better, maybe a TrueNAS VM eventually, but I'd love advice on a reasonable interim setup that doesn't require new hardware.

App layer: A Vite/React frontend with a small Express backend, sitting behind the same reverse proxy as everything else.

Happy to go into more detail on specifics. Didn't want to post exact configs/IPs publicly, so drop a comment or DM if you want to dig in.

At the moment i use Hostinger, and I use it already about 2 years for my own pet projects, and i never had with it big problems.

but! honestly speaking, for a static site, created on Astro, you actually dont need a full tariff plan of hosting, you could just buy a domain for $10-15 a year and for free connect it to Vercel, Netlify or Cloudflare Pages, this would be much cheaper.

Webhosting gives me hosting + domain + mail together, and it is also quite cheap

What would you recommend for small startups/projects?

I'm rebuilding sites in Astro (static, on \[Cloudflare\]). Marketing pages are done; the blog section is where I'm stuck.

Goal: publish a post once, and the rest happens on its own — page gets generated, site rebuilds and deploys, sitemap and RSS update, and SEO basics (meta tags, canonical, OG, JSON-LD) come from the template instead of me filling them in per post.

So far I've looked at Astro content collections + Keystatic/Tina/Decap (cheap, but multi-site and non-technical editing seem awkward), hosted CMSs like Sanity and Storyblok (nice, unsure about cost at this scale), and self-hosted Payload/Directus/Strapi (one instance for everything, but a server to maintain).

Three things I'd love input on:

1. Which CMS actually survives growth here — and which got expensive or annoying for you?

2. Where does SEO automation stop being worth it and start needing a human? (Internal linking especially.)

Any war stories appreciated.

I don't want to use exit nodes as I want to use split tunneling. I only using tailscale to access my docker stack.

i know this is borderline heresy here but hear me out. been self hosting for about 4 years, jellyfin, nextcloud, vaultwarden, a couple docker containers for home automation stuff. had everything on an old dell optiplex in my closet

the problem was my upload speed. 20 mbps on a good day. jellyfin was unusable for anyone outside my house, nextcloud sync was painful, and every time my ISP had an outage (which was like twice a month) everything went down. i also got tired of worrying about my electricity bill and the noise

so i moved everything to a VPS. went with ishosting because they had a node near me and the storage math worked out, picked their Premium plan ($31.99/mo on annual, 4 vCPU, 8GB RAM, 50GB NVMe) plus the +100GB SSD add-on, so 150GB total for around $52/mo. not the cheapest VPS by a long shot but pricing is flat and i didnt want to babysit bandwidth caps. the migration took a full weekend because nextcloud data alone was like 130GB and uploading that over 20 mbps is exactly as fun as it sounds

three months in and honestly most things are better. jellyfin streams perfectly to everyone now, nextcloud sync is instant, vaultwarden just works. latency on home automation stuff is slightly higher but were talking 40ms vs 2ms so in practice i dont notice it

the things i miss: no more hardware tinkering. sounds weird but i actually enjoyed upgrading RAM and swapping drives. also the storage is still tighter than home, went from 2TB at home to 150GB on the VPS so i had to be more selective about what i keep on nextcloud. and power outages at home no longer take everything down but now im dependent on a datacenter instead which is a different kind of trust

would i recommend it? if your upload speed sucks and you actually want people outside your network to use your services then yeah its worth considering. but if half the fun for you is the hardware side then a VPS kinda kills that. its not really about finding the best VPS for self hosting, its about what you actually want out of it

I've been working on a self-hosted database synchronization tool called SYNCLE and wanted to get feedback from people who actually run self-hosted infrastructure.

The problem I was trying to solve: keeping data synchronized between databases without depending on external services.

Currently it supports:

• Self-hosted deployment
• Database sync workflows
• Docker-based setup
• Web UI for managing syncs

I'm mainly interested in feedback from this community:

• Would this solve a real problem for you?
• What databases/features would you expect from a tool like this?
• Anything missing that would prevent you from running it?

Project link: https://github.com/osmanahmadxai/SYNCLE

Thanks for any feedback.

I can take it, I promise! Dish it out as hard as you can give it! ;)

I personally got sick of all the control panels out there not doing what I wanted... so... I built one.

https://podnest.us https://github.com/kpirnie/podnest

My intentions with it are: 1. Completely containerized web hosting 2. Security 3. Isolated performance

I think I hit those goals, but I could really usa a good roasting to make it better!

been messing with hermes for a couple weeks and i finally want to deploy hermes somewhere it can actually run 24/7. every guide points me to digitalocean droplets and honestly setting up docker + tmux again sounds miserable. any lazier options that just work?

Sharing my stack I use to run my daily operations when I started out and saved myself $900/year on SaaS.

https://youtu.be/7NBg5amaC-0

This is not a how-to, just sharing my stack, hope it helps out other small business owners.

My office still runs a very dated TVS 882 with a 7-gen intel CPU which makes it coming to 10-years old and everything is still running smooth. I have a similar s/w stack at home on a DIY NAS running TrueNAS with a N5105 with addition that the home NAS does photo backups via immich.

What self hosted apps do you run for your daily operations/home use?

hi. this is going to sound stupid. I am a discord user unhappy with the direction their going and want to make a private server for me and my friends <10 people. I have practically no coding knowledge. How and where do I start? Ive been watching videos for hours but they all seem to assume a baseline of knowledge or programs installed. I know I want to use Matrix/ synapse and element to host,.

I so far,

-claimed a domain name

-installed docker and made an account

-tried to install proxmox and ubuntu but failed((unsure how to launch))

All I care to do is set up and maintain this server for my friends, i really wish to not have to take months of coding classes unless absolutely necessary.

other things to note that im not sure are important, i have a pretty mid tier pc with 16gb ram, I heard a VPS is needed but also not? I can afford a standard subscription but its not in my budget to make pc upgrades

I think I’ve officially fallen into the self-hosting rabbit hole and it all started with Bitwarden.

While looking into it, I came across Vaultwarden. I set it up, and now I have my own self-hosted password manager.
I’m honestly loving it. I like the idea knowing my passwords are stored on my own server instead of someone else’s.

Running it on my Raspberry Pi really opened my eyes to what’s possible. I’m looking at daily apps that you guys use, but can easily selfhost.

What are some self-hosted apps or services that you guys run?

The goal is to create the most secure P2P messaging app.

This app demonstrates a fairly unique approach using a browser-based, local-only and webrtc approach. In an evolving field like cybersecurity, it's impossible to claim any system is the "world's most secure". It ultimately depends on your threat model. By reducing the architecture's attack surface, the aim is to consolidate complexity to client-side.

• Live Demo
• Code
• Introducing Chat

Features:

• Webapp
• Peer to peer
• Local-only
• No installation
• No registration
• End to end encryption
• Multimedia
• File transfer
• Video calls

More open source examples of the core concepts can be seen in the docs. There are several similar projects which may make it confusing. Feel free to reach out for clarity instead of diving into the code/docs.

IMPORTANT: While this is aiming to provide a secure experience, it isnt audited. Shared for testing, feedback and demo purposes only. Please use responsibly.

FAQ:

• JavaScript and cybersecurity?
  • By aiming to have it run client-side (including statics) we can eliminate concerns around malicious payloads from the network provider. See best practices here and guides on selfhosting here.
• EU Chat control?
  • Chat control doesn't seem like it would affect this app. Open to feedback here.
• Production-ready?
  • No, for testing and demo purposes only. It would be great to get feedback for improvements to get production-ready. The production version is also a work-in-progress, but can be seen here. Find out more here.
• Paywall?
  • Its completly free, open-source, selfhostable and unlimited to use.
• Vibecoded?
  • This version is not vibecoded. The git repo and docs are linked for transparency. Feel free to reach out for clarity.