If you're not careful, self-hosting can change from an interesting hobby into a second job.You'll find forums and pages full of people recommending all sorts of services that are finicky or difficult to maintain.I try to keep clear of anything that actively makes my life more complicated or requires a lot of work to keep running.
Here are 5 that actually make my life and work easier.Pi-hole Block ads and trackers for your entire network A Pi-hole is a DNS sinkhole.DNS sinkholes work by selectively preventing devices on your network from receiving the IP addresses of domains on your blocklist.
That prevents any device on your network from connecting to a domain you block.In practice, you can use it to block ads, trackers, scam or phishing sites, and known malware command domains.It also covers devices that you normally don't have much control over, like smart TVs, gaming consoles, phones, and IoT gear.
There are trade-offs, of course.If your Pi-hole hardware dies, DNS for the entire network goes offline with it.You should set up a secondary DNS server to avoid a total outage.
You also won't be able to block YouTube or other first-party ads served from the same domain as the content.Related 7 things I wish I knew before running a Pi-hole Don't be like me, make sure to prepare for these things before deploying Pi-hole the first time.Posts 5 By Patrick Campanale Homepage Put every service behind one tidy start page so nobody needs a list of IP addresses Homepage is a dashboard that links to your services and displays live stats.
It is a big part of making your homelab feel tidy.Instead of a mess of 192.168.x.x:port URLs, you can access your services from a single page.Homepage's widgets can pull information in real time from some services, including your Pi-hole, Jellyfin, and Immich.
The only "downside" is that Homepage is configured via YAML files, which are a kind of human-readable text file.Uptime Kuma Find out that a service is down before you need it Close Uptime Kuma is a monitoring tool with a minimalist dashboard.It checks HTTP, TCP ports, ping, and Docker containers, allowing you to monitor both your services and your connection to the wider Internet.
You should run Uptime Kuma if you're running any significant number of services; it makes spotting outages or crashes much easier.Additionally, the response-time history can even help you spot a struggling VM, container, or device before it actually crashes.Uptime Kuma can send alerts through Discord, Telegram, or email.
The main risk is that if you run Kuma on the same hardware as your other services, Kuma goes down with them.If you want something more reliable, put it on a separate low-power device.Jellyfin Stream your own movies, shows, and music without an account or a subscription Jellyfin is a free, open-source media server that provides apps for smart TVs, phones, and browsers.
It allows you to play and manage your own personal library without any ads, trackers, analytics, or subscriptions.Keep in mind that Jellyfin doesn't have a built-in remote-access relay like Plex.If you want to watch your media away from home, you'll need to set up a VPN like WireGuard that lets you connect to your home network while you're away.
You could also use a reverse proxy rather than a VPN to access Jellyfin from outside your home network, but WireGuard or Tailscale are safer and easier to use.If you plan on transcoding 4K content, you'll need a CPU with a capable iGPU.I'd recommend looking for something with Intel Quick Sync if you can get one.
You could also use a dedicated GPU if your server has one.Jellyfin isn't one of those services that'll cause you a lot of trouble.I've been running mine for several years now and I haven't had a single crash.
Immich A Google photos-style replacement you run yourself Immich is designed as a self-hosted replacement for Google Photos.It handles automatic backups of photos and videos from your phone, and uses local AI models so you can search your library using natural language.The mobile app both looks and behaves much like the Google Photos app; once you have it installed, switching over is pretty seamless.
Just keep in mind that Immich is fairly demanding.It requires multiple containers—server, machine learning, Postgres, and Redis—and several gigabytes of RAM.It is also not a backup on its own; you still need to make a second copy of your library.
Fortunately, the Docker Compose file makes setting up the entire stack quite simple.Start with one service and only add more as you need them If I could only install of these services, it'd definitely be Pi-hole.It is fast, easy to install, runs on anything, and provides immediate benefits to every device on your network.
You should start with that one.On the other hand, Homepage and Uptime Kuma really only benefit you if you're going to self-host other services.I find three services is about the magic number that makes me want a dashboard and monitor.
Otherwise, they're probably not worth the trouble.
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