This self-hosting handbook's goal is to teach you how to use a virtual private server (VPS) to self-host a variety of mostly free (and sometimes paid) websites, applications, and services.
If you're new to self-hosting, scroll down for an introduction. If you're ready to get started, you can hop straight down into the Self-hosting quickstart: Docker, domains, and DNS section.
In this handbook, I'll show you how to set up your VPS to use Docker containers, configure your domain and its DNS communicate with your VPS, build a "reverse proxy" with Nginx, encrypt everything with SSL certificates from Let's Encrypt, and use docker-compose to create an entire self-hosted infrastructure that's as extensive as you want.
Table of contents
- Self-hosting quickstart: Docker, domains, and DNS (look below!)
- A docker-compose tutorial
- Using docker-compose to add web apps
- Self-hosting administration
- Self-hosting Nextcloud with Docker
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Self-hosting
Self-hosting is an old term that's been around computing for a long time. In recent years, given the acceleration of Software as a Service (SaaS) web applications, we've seen the interest around self-hosting grow significantly.
You are self-hosting when you put a web application on a VPS you own instead of relying on another business to host the application for you.
For a comprehensive explanation of self-hosting, visit What the Heck is Self-Hosting? A Guide to ‘Owning’ Your Webapps.
I still don't know what self-hosting is Expand
yourname.wordpress.com blog in a matter of minutes. Wordpress.com is hosting your blog for you, as they control the web app, the server, and the data.
Or, you can visit Wordpress.org and download a copy of the Wordpress source code for yourself. You can install Wordpress on top of a web server and self-host your blog. In this case, you control the web app, the server, and the data.
Today, you can self-host far more than blogs. Be sure to check out our ultimate guide to self-hosted alternatives for dozens of ideas.
About SSD Nodes
We're the first honest-value cloud computing platform. Our 16GB RAM VPS, running on a KVM platform, is only $[price]/mo when billed annually. That's around 90% lower than Digital Ocean, Linode, or Vultr, with all the same power and resiliency.
Continue to a comprehensive self-hosting handbook
You can find the first steps to this self-hosting handbook below. The other pages will be published and linked to over the course of a few weeks, beginning on June 19, 2018.
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