The Privacy Diet James Patrick

Start Here · My whole home · Your path

Keep my server running

Know when something breaks, share notes privately, and see it all on one page. Work down the list — each step builds on the ones above it.

Pick a different goal · Change device

Run it yourself

This one needs a small server at home. Do these in order — each one assumes the last.

  1. In the book

    Plan the server: threat model, hardware, networking

    Be Your Own Cloud · Chapters 1–4

    Decide whether self-hosting suits you before buying anything.

  2. Compare

    Self-Hosting Trade-offs

    What you gain against what you take on, stated plainly before you invest.

  3. Compare

    Homelab Hardware

    Six starting points by cost, power draw and what each is good for.

  4. Tutorial

    Installing Ubuntu Server for a Home Lab

    From USB stick to a headless, static-IP, auto-patching box you can SSH into — the machine every self-hosting guide assumes you already have.

    beginner⏱ 60 min

  5. Tutorial

    SSH: Key-Only Login and Sensible Hardening

    Turn off password authentication, lock down root, and stop the log noise — the twenty minutes that closes the most-attacked door on any server.

    beginner⏱ 25 min

  6. Tutorial

    Docker and Compose, Properly Installed

    The right repository, the docker group and what it actually grants, a Compose file you can read, and the update routine that keeps a homelab from rotting.

    intermediate⏱ 45 min

  7. In the book

    Storage

    Be Your Own Cloud · Chapter 7

  8. In the book

    Reverse proxy, HTTPS and local DNS

    Be Your Own Cloud · Chapter 8

  9. Tutorial

    Reverse Proxy and HTTPS, Set Up Once

    Chapter 8's Nginx Proxy Manager from empty folder to a trusted padlock: the shared proxy network, a DNS-only API token, one wildcard certificate for every service, and a way to test it all before Pi-hole exists.

    Every service page assumes this is done.

    intermediate⏱ 45 min

  10. In the book

    Secrets and .env files

    Be Your Own Cloud · Chapter 9

  11. In the book

    Uptime Kuma, PrivateBin and dashboards

    Be Your Own Cloud · Chapter 17

  12. Tutorial

    Uptime Kuma, PrivateBin and a Dashboard: Going Deeper

    Chapter 17's extras set up properly: monitors that catch certificate expiry and a dead Pi-hole, PrivateBin behind HTTPS so its encryption works, and Homepage or Homarr as a front page for everything.

    beginner⏱ 60 min

  13. In the book

    Backups, restore drills, remote access, monitoring

    Be Your Own Cloud · Chapters 18–22