Self-Hosting

How to run your own servers, Docker stacks, and self-hosted services without losing weekends to config files.

Three differently sized water reservoirs piping into a single server rack, illustrating SQLite, MariaDB, and PostgreSQL scaling ceilings.

Self-Hosted Databases in 2026: Postgres vs SQLite vs MariaDB

Picking a self-hosted database in 2026 comes down to one question: when does it force you to migrate? SQLite holds until about one write-heavy app server (~10 GB, single writer). PostgreSQL 18 is the default that almost never makes you move. MariaDB 12.3 LTS earns its spot mainly when you already live in the MySQL world.

Key Takeaways

  • SQLite serializes writes, so one busy app server is its real ceiling.
  • Postgres 18 is the default that almost never makes you migrate later.
  • MariaDB fits best when you already run MySQL tooling.
  • SQLite runs with no daemon and almost no RAM, while Postgres needs tuning.
  • The SQLite to Postgres jump is a planned move, not an emergency.

What are the best self-hosted databases for web apps in 2026?

For a self-hosted web app, three engines cover almost every case: PostgreSQL is the do-everything default, SQLite is the embedded single-file engine, and MariaDB is the MySQL-compatible community fork. All three are open source and free to run on your own box.

Raspberry Pi 5 vs Orange Pi 5 Plus: Which ARM SBC Is Better for Self-Hosting

Raspberry Pi 5 vs Orange Pi 5 Plus: Which ARM SBC Is Better for Self-Hosting

The Orange Pi 5 Plus is the better self-hosting board for Docker-heavy workloads thanks to its 8-core RK3588 CPU, up to 32GB RAM, and dual NVMe M.2 slots. The Raspberry Pi 5 wins for beginners and single-service setups with its superior software ecosystem and community support. Both boards draw under 18W, run Docker containers on ARM64 without issues, and can be purchased for under $200 in their mid-range configurations. The right pick depends on how many services you plan to run and whether hardware expandability or software polish matters more to you.

eBPF Tracing for Linux 5.15: Real-Time Kernel Monitoring

eBPF Tracing for Linux 5.15: Real-Time Kernel Monitoring

eBPF (extended Berkeley Packet Filter) lets you attach tiny sandboxed programs to kernel events: syscalls, network packets, scheduler decisions, and filesystem calls. You collect detailed performance data in real time. No kernel source changes, no custom modules, no service restarts. With bpftrace one-liners and the BCC toolkit, you can measure per-process disk latency, trace TCP connections, profile CPU hotspots, and find memory leaks on production Linux. Overhead is usually under 2%.

Multi-Monitor Linux Setup with Mixed DPI Displays

Multi-Monitor Linux Setup with Mixed DPI Displays

On Wayland with GNOME 46+ or KDE Plasma 6.1+, each monitor gets its own scale factor. A 4K center display at 200% and side 1080p monitors at 100% work without trade-offs. X11 still hurts here. The whole desktop shares one scale, so one display always looks wrong. If old Linux DPI pain has kept you on a single monitor, the 2026 Wayland stack has caught up.

Why Mixed DPI Is Hard

The typical developer setup pairs a 27" 4K center monitor (163 PPI) with one or two 24" 1080p side panels (92 PPI). That’s nearly a 2x pixel density gap. The OS has to draw UI elements at different sizes on each screen.

Automated AES-256 Backups: 500GB in 5 min for $3 a month

Automated AES-256 Backups: 500GB in 5 min for $3 a month

Pair Restic with Rclone and you get client-side AES-256 encryption, smart deduplication, and a backend that talks to 70 plus cloud providers. A systemd timer and a short wrapper script handle the schedule. The result runs unattended, prunes old snapshots on its own, and lets you swap clouds by editing one config line. A tuned setup backs up 500 GB in under five minutes and costs as little as $3 a month on Backblaze B2.

Flatpak vs Snap vs AppImage: Which Linux Package Format Should You Use?

Flatpak vs Snap vs AppImage: Which Linux Package Format Should You Use?

For most Linux desktop users, Flatpak is the best universal packaging format in 2026. It offers strong sandboxing through Bubblewrap and Linux namespaces. Its curated app store, Flathub , passed 3,200 apps and 433 million downloads in 2025. Snap fits server and IoT setups where Canonical’s store and auto-updates help, but slow cold starts hurt it on the desktop. AppImage wins for portable, single-file delivery, yet ships with no sandbox, no updates, and no shared libraries.