I used a DDNS for my home connection for various reasons. I found whilst my home IP address was dynamic it didn’t actually change once in 2 years! Obviously security and reliability make selfhosting not ideal in all scenarios.
Having a dynamic IP isn’t a dealbreaker for hosting stuff from home. DDNS tools make this easy and can be configured to update your DNS records as soon as you’re assigned a new address.
Costs are relative. You might find that running your old laptop as a server is more than adequate. Other people spend quite a bit more per month to rent a server in a datacenter.
Your point about “attackers may still bypass it one way or another” on your local network is not any different from renting a server.
For me, the main considerations of hosting something at home are:
Internet connection: being able to set up PTR records for my public addresses, and having a fast enough link. If you run your own mailserver at home, you will likely not get any mail delivered with missing reverse DNS. Mail (specifically outgoing) is significantly harder to host from a residential connection, but can be easily offloaded to a rented server or mail service.
Cost: electricity and hardware, which may or may not be different to what you rent or colocate in a datacenter
Reliability: datacenters generally have redundant systems for power and internet connectivity, which is not as feasible at home
Hosting at home can be affordably and easily, depending on your needs.
I do host most of my services (except mail) at home and the only downside is when I don’t have access to the Internet like this week. Otherwise it costs nearly nothing as I use raspberry’s but there are downtimes for sure.
But hosting things from home is fun! I don’t dispute any of the points Anton made against it. If reliability is important your stuff is better off in a data centre. I host things out of my house because it gives me that warm fuzzy DIY feeling.
I’ve been looking at prgmr.com and vultr.com for hosting solutions, after deciding against upgrading my home internet by $10/mo just for a server; their smaller offerings are cheaper or equal to that, and they seem like decent machines.
Ah, yes, AntonMcClure.com, the site of Anton McClure, featuring articles primarily written by Anton McClure, of AntonMcClure.com.
All jokes aside, nice article.
I used a DDNS for my home connection for various reasons. I found whilst my home IP address was dynamic it didn’t actually change once in 2 years! Obviously security and reliability make selfhosting not ideal in all scenarios.
A couple points that were brought up on irc:
For me, the main considerations of hosting something at home are:
Hosting at home can be affordably and easily, depending on your needs.
I do host most of my services (except mail) at home and the only downside is when I don’t have access to the Internet like this week. Otherwise it costs nearly nothing as I use raspberry’s but there are downtimes for sure.
But hosting things from home is fun! I don’t dispute any of the points Anton made against it. If reliability is important your stuff is better off in a data centre. I host things out of my house because it gives me that warm fuzzy DIY feeling.
I’ve been looking at prgmr.com and vultr.com for hosting solutions, after deciding against upgrading my home internet by $10/mo just for a server; their smaller offerings are cheaper or equal to that, and they seem like decent machines.