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The original was posted on /r/homelab by /u/AlpineGuy on 2025-08-02 12:07:26+00:00.
I started self-hosting stuff around the time when it became public knowledge that basically all cloud providers and all big software companies scan the stored data and have backdoors for government built-in. I didn't like that, I felt betrayed. I started to focus on FOSS and self-hosting.
Now I have my home server running a bunch of services and storing my data and I have become kinda reliant on it.
Why am I calling it mid-level?
- I am not an absolute beginner, I have learned a lot and stuff runs more or less stable.
- However, I am also not a professional who can re-deploy their whole infrastructure using Ansible within 2 minutes.
What does mid-level contain?
- Fairly locked up system, only accessible via VPN
- Services dockerized
- Only one low-power home machine (mini pc)
- No LDAP - everything has a separate password
- family members using it aren't too happy because it's not accessible for them
- I need to generate ssh keys whenever there is a new network share
Where is the danger?
- I rely on a system that has single points of failure (hardware)
- Restoring the system would take 1-2 days - buying a new mini PC, setting up Linux, restoring from backup, getting everything to run again
So where to go from here?
- Go "full pro home labber": Multiple machines, Ansible, Logging, Monitoring, Alerting, Self-Healing... would probably need to take a small vacation of locking myself in and setting this up, this is no small task.
- Give up and just use full SaaS services
- A "more stable" middle ground: IaaS VPS hosting for running those docker services I like (eliminates my fear of hardware issues and easier to restore in case of disaster) + home server reduced to NAS features and maybe even to be replaced by a purchased NAS at some point
So, too much text, looking for advice.
tldr: I have become reliant on my home server but I cannot yet run it professionally enough to have peace of mind. Learn more, go deeper or run for other solutions (e.g. SaaS, IaaS)?