My Personal Server Setup • Dan Barbarito

Hosting on the Cloud

For someone who wants to begin their journey of having a server used for personal use, I highly recommend starting with a cloud server as opposed to buying your own hardware. While there are many, many advantages of owning the hardware, a cloud server is a cheap and effective way to familiarize yourself with all of the technology and skills that go into managing a personal server.

I am currently hosting my personal server on Hetzner, a reliable and cost-effective server provider. Hetzner offers great performance and flexibility, making it an ideal choice for anyone looking to set up a personal server. It’s been a smooth experience, and their tooling and support is top notch.

Because my server is on the cloud, I do not keep any information on it that I deem to be private. If you go the cloud route, I recommend you follow this advice.

I have every intention to migrate my setup to a physical server that I own in the future, but for now the setup I have works just fine for what I use it for.

Secure Access with Tailscale

To ensure secure and seamless access to my server, I use Tailscale. Tailscale creates a secure network that allows me to connect to my server from any device, whether it’s my desktop or phone, without the hassle of configuring complex VPN setups. It’s like having my own private network, but without all the headaches.

Benefits of a Personal Server

Having a personal server offers numerous benefits that I’ve come to appreciate:

Experimentation: It provides a sandbox to experiment with different applications and tools. I can try out new software without worrying about breaking anything important.
Networking Practice: It’s a fantastic way to practice networking skills and set up DNS records. I’ve learned so much just by tinkering with settings and configurations.
Customization: I can tailor the server to meet my specific needs, something that’s not possible with many cloud services. It’s my little digital home.
Learning: It’s a continuous learning experience, helping me stay updated with the latest technologies. There’s always something new to discover.

Interesting Tools on My Server

Here are some of the interesting tools I use on my personal server:

Mealie: A recipe management tool that helps me organize and access my favorite recipes from anywhere. It’s a lifesaver for meal planning.
Calibre: An ebook management system that keeps my digital library in order. I love how easy it is to convert and manage my ebook collection.
Miniflux: A simple and efficient RSS reader that aggregates my news and blog feeds. It’s minimalist and just works.
Kanboard: A project management tool that uses a Kanban board to help me stay organized and on top of my tasks. It’s great for visualizing what needs to be done.
N8N: A powerful workflow automation tool. For example, one workflow I created copies a bunch of files on my server to Dropbox every hour. It’s incredibly versatile and fun to play with.
Nginx Proxy Manager: Proxies all of the services on my server. This tool makes it easy to manage and secure the web interfaces of my various applications, ensuring they are accessible yet protected. It’s user-friendly and saves me a lot of time.

Backups and Offsite Storage

To safeguard my data, I run a container that backs up the entire server to offsite storage. This ensures that I can restore the system at any time, providing peace of mind against data loss. Knowing that my data is safe makes me feel much more secure.

Conclusion

Setting up a personal server has been an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s a playground for learning, experimenting, and honing my technical skills. If you’re considering setting up your own server, I highly recommend it. The possibilities are endless, and the knowledge gained is invaluable. Plus, it’s a lot of fun!

Hopefully you found this post insightful and motivating enough to start your own server setup journey. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need advice.