It’s been a hot second.

Right, back to this!

So, welcome back to another log! This time, as you may see from the title, we’re gonna be talking about some cool self-hosted things that you can run on a server you have at home!

 1. Notes with Standard Notes

I’ve been using Standard notes locally for quite a while now, and honestly, it really helped with staying productive. You can install custom themes, custom note editors, all you need is genuinely, usually, just a google away. Notes are always encrypted, so if security and confidentiality is a strong priority, I’d go with Standard Notes.

They do also have a version that you can use without having a server, learn more about that here!

For the self-hosted version, learn more here! 

 2. Cloud Storage with Nextcloud

Nextcloud! God, do I use the hell out of this. Forked from a different open-source cloud storage server, Owncloud, Nextcloud combines a great UI with their great Mobile/Desktop clients. Again, everything is encrypted, and I’ve never encountered any errors with. The only limit is your bandwith, I guess!

 Same with SN, they also offer their own hosted version, if you don’t have a server. That’s here.

To host your own copy of Nextcloud, the guide’s here.

 3. Media streaming with Jellyfin

I’ve not been using Jellyfin for too long, but I still have used it quite a bit!

A great alternative to Plex! For whatever media you have, be it music, books, TV shows, films, even live TV with a TV tuner, with whatever means you got it, just shove it in a Jellyfin server, do a little configuring and you can access it anywhere*! Jellyfin is quite heavier then the rest of these, as you’d be usually streaming a 1080/4K stream, so you’d need a little more than a Raspberry Pi.

Find out more here! 

 While Jellyfin doesn’t have a PS4/5 app yet, they have a 1st party app for Apple TV, Google TV, iOS, Android, and even a Windows client. Most of them are just a shell of the website, however a rewrite of the iOS app is going on called “Swiftfin” which does not have all the features, but it sure looks and performs well! Jellyfin also has quite a few plugins available, and even more you can get from 3rd parties!

* – To access stuff anywhere, you’d have to ideally have a static IP and a domain to port forward your server to that domain. I am not gonna get into that here, but here’s where you’re gonna wanna look.

 4. Service monitoring with Uptime Kuma

We are actually currently switching to this here at DGC! It’ll be soon up at https://uptime.davidgameco.com! 

A great alternative to services like Uptime Robot, Kuma provides a light, self-hosted heartbeat service! Setting up this one for anywhere outside local use can be a bit tricky without a static IP, and I’m not gonna get into that!

Learn more here, and see a live demo here!

 5. Set up non-homekit IoTs with HomeBridge

Have an iOS device and some non-home compatible lights, or heck, a coffee machine? Well, HomeBridge has gotcha covered! Just pop an image of HomeBridge onto your server, scan a QR code in your Home app, set up the appropriate IoT device and voilá! You can now control your smart things from your Macbook, iPhone or wrist!

Learn more here!

 6. Automate anything* with HomeAssistant

HomeAssistant! It’s a similar concept to HomeBridge – and I’ve only scraped the surface with HA. Unite different ecosystems and control anything, anywhere! Now, I don’t know too much about it, other than the fact that it is extremely powerful with the right willpower! 

Learn a LOT more here!

* – there’s probably a limitation to what you can do, but you get the gist.

 7+. Even more cool things!

Nothing piqued your interest? Still wanna run something locally? Well call now at 1-800 – no wait, wrong prompt.. Look at this github repo! It literally has everything, from chats to proxy managers! (then again, why would you use a cloud-hosted proxy server if you have a server at home)