Self-hosting productivity apps

I have started a Joplin instance on my server. With that, now I’m running all these services on a $5 Hetzner server:

• Pensive: Bookmarking
• Hugo flow: Writing blog posts
• Memos: Learning and TIL
• Joplin: Notes

So far I’m pleased with the value I’m getting out of such a cheap server.

Thanks to Docker, there’s little to no effort in starting the services.

Backups and snapshots

Automatic backups are enabled (although 20% of the service price seems a bit high to me).

I also occasionally stop the server to take a snapshot. As long as you have restart: always in your Docker Compose files, or stop the Docker service before shutting down the server, nothing manual is needed after starting the server again.

Plans ahead

More and more I’m considering hosting Immich and Jellyfin on that server. I need to move to a bigger server, but I think it is worth it.

Especially I’m excited about Jellyfin. I intend to take a more active role in the music I listen to. There was a time I used to listen to whole albums instead of just a handpicked set of the best of the best. That lets you make a deeper connection with the work.

This would not be the first time I’ve tried to self-host these apps. Once I attempted hosting them on my laptop at home (using Tailscale). It worked, but there are some issues with consistency and speed. Unless I get a proper mini PC or a server for home, I think pushing that to a VPS is better.