Homelab — My self-hosted server

Context

I wanted to understand how applications actually run: networking, volumes, logs, updates. I also wanted to host real services without relying on a cloud provider. So I bought a server and started. That was about three years ago. Today it runs many services that I use myself, every day. It is the project I am proudest of.

What it runs

• A reverse proxy that serves every site over HTTPS, so I can reach my services with clean URLs instead of IPs and ports.
• Nextcloud (with MariaDB and Redis) for files, documents and backups.
• WordPress sites, including the one for the Giron de Porsel 2026.
• Databases (MariaDB and PostgreSQL), dedicated to individual projects.
• Internal tools and utility containers for tests, scripts and jobs.

How it is organised

• One host, clear Docker stacks, grouped by function: reverse-proxy, cloud, web, db.
• One Docker network per stack, plus a shared proxy network.
• A small public surface: only ports 80 and 443 are open, databases and admin tools are never exposed, and internal services are reached through a VPN or the local network.
• Maintenance habits: regular updates of the system and images, and secrets kept out of the compose files.

Backups

I am progressively structuring them: regular SQL dumps, snapshots of critical volumes (Nextcloud, WordPress) and synchronisation to another storage location. The goal is to be able to rebuild a stack from the docs and the backups without spending days on it.

Stack

Dell PowerEdge R730, Ubuntu Server, Docker and Docker Compose, Nginx, Let's Encrypt, Nextcloud, WordPress, MariaDB, PostgreSQL.

What it gives me

Running it myself makes me think like an operator and not only like a developer: DNS, proxies, certificates, ports, failures. Next on my list are monitoring, more infrastructure as code and automated restore tests.

Links

• Write-up: My Dell R730 homelab