Infrastructure
Self-Hosted Server – Infrastructure & DevOps
Personal project · 2025 – Present
Deployment and management of a production server with Docker, reverse proxy, analytics and multiple services.
Project Overview
This project focuses on building and maintaining a self-hosted production server running multiple services using Docker.
The goal was to create a secure, scalable and independent infrastructure capable of hosting web applications, APIs and analytics tools.
Motivation
Instead of relying on cloud platforms, I wanted full control over:
- Infrastructure & deployment
- Security configuration
- Networking & routing
- Data ownership
This project allowed me to gain hands-on experience in real DevOps environments.
Tech Stack
- Linux (Ubuntu Server)
- Docker & Docker Compose
- Nginx Proxy Manager
- UFW Firewall
- Umami Analytics
- Several other personal Open Source programms
Architecture
The server is structured using containerized services:
- Frontend applications (Eleventy sites)
- Backend APIs (Node.js services)
- Analytics (Umami + PostgreSQL)
- Automation tools (n8n)
All services are connected via Docker networks and routed through a central reverse proxy.
Reverse Proxy & Networking
Nginx Proxy Manager handles:
- Domain routing
- SSL certificates (HTTPS)
- Subdomain management
Internal Docker networking ensures secure communication between services without exposing ports publicly.
Security
- Firewall configuration (UFW)
- Closed internal ports
- HTTPS enforcement
- Service isolation via Docker
Monitoring & Analytics
A self-hosted analytics solution was integrated:
- Umami Analytics
- Privacy-friendly tracking
- Custom dashboards
Challenges
- Docker networking issues
- Reverse proxy misconfigurations
- SSL setup & routing errors
- Container communication problems
These challenges provided valuable real-world debugging experience.
Learnings
- Production-ready deployment
- Container orchestration
- Networking & reverse proxies
- Security best practices
Future Improvements
- Automated CI/CD pipelines
- Monitoring (Prometheus / Grafana)
- Backup strategies
- Scaling with multiple nodes
Conclusion
This project gave me deep insights into DevOps, infrastructure and system design. It forms the foundation for deploying scalable and reliable applications.