Self-Hosting on a €10/month VPS

Everything you need to run Docker, Nginx, PostgreSQL, automated backups, and health monitoring on a single cheap VPS. No Kubernetes required.

Getting Started

Before diving in, make sure you have the prerequisites set up. This guide assumes you have Docker installed, a basic understanding of the command line, and about 30 minutes of uninterrupted time.

The best infrastructure is the kind you understand completely. Don't copy-paste blindly — read every config line and know what it does.

The Architecture

We'll build this step by step, starting with the foundation and working our way up to a fully functional system. Each section is self-contained, so you can stop at any point and have something that works.

# Example configuration
version: "3.8"
services:
  app:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "3001:3001"
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:3001/health"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3

Step-by-Step Implementation

The implementation follows a clear pattern: define, configure, deploy, verify. Each step builds on the previous one, and we include health checks at every stage to make sure nothing breaks silently.

• Set up the base Docker environment
• Configure networking and reverse proxy
• Add health monitoring and alerts
• Implement automated backups
• Deploy with zero-downtime strategy

Production Considerations

Running in production is different from running locally. You need to think about security, monitoring, backups, and what happens when things go wrong at 3 AM. This section covers the operational aspects that make the difference between a hobby project and a production system.

Next up: We'll cover advanced patterns including blue-green deployments, automated rollbacks, and multi-region setups. Subscribe to the VPS & Infra zone to get notified.