Self-Hosted Services on DevOps Engineer & CloudAdmin

Internet Radio on AzuraCast

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Recovery and deployment of internet radio from scratch

Client

Community of independent artists with a mobile application and an audience of several dozen daily listeners

Challenge

After losing a rented VPS (along with the active configuration, website, and broadcast history), it was necessary to completely restore broadcasting for two internet radio stations. The only input data was a set of mp3 files. The task required deploying a new server, setting up an automated broadcasting platform, recreating a landing page with an embedded player, and ensuring stable 24/7 operation.

Self-Hosted Cloud Storage with Nextcloud

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Self-Hosted Corporate Cloud

Client

Mid-sized business with strict data privacy and data residency requirements

Challenge

The company relied on third-party cloud services to store and share work files, creating data leakage risks and dependency on external providers. They needed a self-hosted solution with in-browser document editing, deleted file recovery, revision history, and additional collaboration tools — calendar, notes, and email — all under their own control.

Solution

1. Nextcloud AIO Deployment

Nextcloud All-in-One — official Docker image with the full stack out of the box
PostgreSQL for application data storage
Redis for caching and background job queues
Nginx as a reverse proxy with automatic SSL/TLS

2. In-Browser Document Editing

Nextcloud Office (Collabora Online) — built-in office suite
Support for .docx, .xlsx, .pptx and ODF formats
Real-time collaborative editing
No local software installation required

3. File Management

Deleted files trash bin with configurable retention period
File version history — roll back to any previous revision
Granular access control: folders, share links, passwords
Mobile and desktop sync clients

4. Collaboration Tools

Calendar (CalDAV) — team scheduling and events
Notes — personal and team notes with Markdown support
Mail — built-in web client for corporate email (IMAP/SMTP)

5. Backup

Borg Backup — incremental backup built into Nextcloud AIO
Data deduplication and compression
Scheduled automatic runs
Remote storage for backups (S3-compatible / SFTP)

Technologies

Nextcloud

Docker

PostgreSQL

Nginx

Linux

Results

✅ Data ownership: files stay on company servers, no third-party providers
✅ In-browser editing: office documents open and edit directly in the browser
✅ Safety net: version history and trash bin protect against accidental data loss
✅ Unified platform: single solution for files, calendar, notes, and email
✅ Automated backups: incremental backup via Borg Backup on a set schedule

Self-Hosted Corporate Messenger (Matrix)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Self-Hosted Secure Messenger for Enterprise Communications

Client

Mid-size business with strict data privacy and security requirements

Challenge

The company required full control over its internal communications — no third-party servers, no data leakage risks. The solution had to support end-to-end encryption, voice and video calls, file sharing, and seamless integration with existing corporate infrastructure, all manageable by an internal team.

Solution

1. Server Stack

Matrix Synapse as the core messaging server
PostgreSQL 16 for persistent data storage
Caddy as reverse proxy with automatic SSL/TLS
Docker Compose for service orchestration

2. Client Applications

Element Web for browser access
Element Desktop for Windows/macOS/Linux
Element Mobile for iOS/Android
Consistent interface across all platforms

3. Voice & Video Calls

Coturn (TURN/STUN server) for NAT traversal
Group video call support
UDP ports 49160–49200 for media traffic
Automatic configuration via environment variables

4. Administration

Synapse Admin web UI for user and room management
Usage statistics and monitoring
Accessible on a dedicated port (8888)

5. Security

End-to-end encrypted messages
Automatic SSL/TLS certificates via Caddy
Public registration disabled
Optional federation with other Matrix servers
Healthchecks on all services

6. Automation

Single Bash script for full stack initialization
Automatic Synapse config generation
Automated admin user creation via expect
Docker Compose with dependency ordering and healthchecks

Technologies

Docker

PostgreSQL

Caddy

Bash

Linux

Element + Matrix + Synapse

Results

✅ Data ownership: full control over messages and user data — no third-party servers
✅ Scale: 100+ concurrent users
✅ Features: text, voice, video, file sharing up to 1.5 GB, E2E encryption
✅ Speed: full deployment in 5 minutes with a single script
✅ Reliability: automatic SSL certificates, healthchecks, auto-restart

Self-Hosted Project Management with Plane

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Self-Hosted Project Management with Plane So

Client

A company seeking its own project management tool hosted on their office infrastructure

Challenge

The client wanted an open-source alternative to Jira/Linear for project and task management, deployed on their own server within an existing Coolify environment. Requirements included: installing the latest version of Plane CE, ensuring proper operation behind Traefik reverse proxy, extracting the database as a separate Coolify service for convenient archiving, and setting up regular backups for all data.