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Self-hosting

Post 00004 | July 16th, 2022

This is the first part in a series of self-hosting. In this series I will go through the benefits of hosting your own data as well as tutorials on how to get started with setting up a server.

Tech giants really are the worst. They are carnivorous plants, trying to lure you in to become part of their eco-system, enticing you to buy more, more, more. Or, if what they offer is free, they will watch your every more and sell it to whomever is willing to pay. It's creepy, I hate it, and I don't want to be a part of it.

The alternative: Do it yourself

For the last few years, I have been running home server. What started as some shared folders in Windows has turned into a slew of services that host my media, back up my phone and PC, gather news for me, sync my files, and remember my passwords. These are all features that are commercially available online, but you would be surprised how close (or even better) self-hosted free alternatives can be. Benefits include:

No upper limit on storage: With cloud services you might get a couple of gigabytes for free, and the option to buy a couple of terabytes. Do you have more data than that? You're out of luck. Want more storage on your server? Pop in another hard disk.
Host only the stuff you want: How much of the stuff on streaming sites do you actually want to see? When you host your own, you decide what to include.
Host it however long you want: Ready for the big season finale? Too bad, the streaming site has taken the show down because the license expired. On your own server, the programme stays until you delete it.
The more services you run, the cheaper it gets: You could pay $10 to Netflix, $10 to Dropbox, $4 to Dashlane, $6 to Feedly... It all adds up. Or you could just pay for the electricity you use.
No snoop zone: You might get the option to opt in to data collection to help the developer, but as standard your secrets are safe with your server.
Snappier service: Maybe it's because it's on your same LAN, or maybe it's the lack of telemetry, but the services are just that bit speedier.

Of course, with great power comes great responsibility. Your actions can have bad consequences. You're in charge of keeping your data backed up.

Next time I will discuss ways to get started with self-hosting.