Docker

Running your own email server is one of the most challenging self-hosting projects. But with Mailcow, it’s actually manageable. This guide shows you how to set up a complete, production-ready email server with Mailcow—handling everything from DNS to spam filtering to webmail. Why Self-Host Email? Pros: Complete control over your data Custom domain email ([email protected]) No storage limits No scanning of your emails Learning experience Cons: Complex setup Requires dedicated server with static IP Deliverability challenges (avoiding spam folders) Ongoing maintenance required Reality Check: Self-hosting email is hard. Gmail and Proton Mail exist for good reasons. Only do this if you understand the commitment. ...

Tired of managing separate logins for every self-hosted service? Authentik gives you enterprise-grade Single Sign-On (SSO) for your home lab—one login for everything. This guide shows you how to set up Authentik with Docker Compose and connect your services in minutes. What is Authentik? Authentik is an open-source identity provider (IdP) that centralizes authentication for all your self-hosted services. It supports OAuth2, SAML, LDAP, and has a built-in proxy for apps without SSO support. ...

Google Analytics is powerful, but it tracks your visitors across the web, shares data with advertisers, and requires cookie consent banners. If you care about privacy (and GDPR compliance), there’s a better way: self-hosted analytics. This guide compares the three best privacy-focused analytics platforms: Plausible, Umami, and Matomo. Why Self-Host Analytics? Benefits: Full data ownership - your analytics data stays on your server Privacy-friendly - no tracking cookies, GDPR compliant by default No data sampling - unlike Google Analytics free tier No external dependencies - works even if third-party services are blocked Ad blocker resistant - more accurate visitor counts Quick Comparison Table Feature Plausible Umami Matomo Setup Difficulty Easy Easy Moderate UI Complexity Simple Simple Complex Resource Usage Low Very Low High Database PostgreSQL PostgreSQL/MySQL MySQL/MariaDB Real-time Yes Yes Yes Open Source Yes (AGPL) Yes (MIT) Yes (GPL) Docker Support ✅ ✅ ✅ E-commerce ❌ ❌ ✅ Heatmaps ❌ ❌ ✅ (plugin) Funnels ✅ ❌ ✅ Custom Events ✅ ✅ ✅ Plausible Analytics Best for: Simplicity and clean UI ...

When you’re self-hosting critical services, you need to know immediately when something goes down. Uptime Kuma is a beautiful, self-hosted monitoring tool that watches your services 24/7. This guide shows you how to set up Uptime Kuma to monitor everything from websites to Docker containers to API endpoints. What is Uptime Kuma? Uptime Kuma is an open-source uptime monitoring and status page tool. Think of it as your personal UptimeRobot or Pingdom, but self-hosted. ...

Automating Backups for Your Home Server: Complete Guide You’ve spent hours setting up your perfect home server with Docker containers, configuration files, and precious data. But what happens when a drive fails, ransomware strikes, or you accidentally delete something critical? Without automated backups, you’re one mistake away from losing everything. This guide will show you how to implement rock-solid automated backups for your home server using proven tools and the industry-standard 3-2-1 backup rule. ...

Pi-hole is a network-wide ad blocker that works at the DNS level. Install it once, and every device on your network — phones, tablets, smart TVs, even IoT devices — gets ad-free browsing without installing anything on them. Why Pi-hole? Network-wide blocking: Works on every device automatically Blocks trackers: Not just ads, but analytics and telemetry too Faster browsing: Blocked requests = less data to load See what’s happening: Dashboard shows all DNS queries Free and open source: No subscriptions or fees Prerequisites You’ll need: ...