From the racks
Guides on VPS hosting and VPNs, plus OpenStack, Kubernetes, Ceph and the platforms we deploy.
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Tailscale on a VPS: Your Own Exit Node in Amsterdam or Dublin, Subnet Router and SSH
Run your own Tailscale exit node on a VPS for a fixed European IP while travelling, add a subnet router to reach your home lab, and replace SSH keys with Tailscale SSH. Every command was tested in our lab with Tailscale 1.104.1, with real output and memory numbers.
Your Own Vercel or Heroku on a VPS: Coolify vs Dokploy Tested
We installed Coolify 4.4.3 and Dokploy 0.30.8 side by side on identical KVM machines and deployed the same Node.js app on both. Here are the measured install times, idle RAM, disk use and deploy times, a verdict table, dated Vercel, Netlify, Railway and Render prices, and the plan size each tool needs.
What to Do With a /48 of IPv6 on Your Server: 8 Tested Recipes
A /48 gives one server 65,536 IPv6 subnets. These lab-tested recipes show how to add addresses without changing your outgoing IP, keep them after a reboot, give each site and Docker container its own public IPv6, set reverse DNS and firewall both protocols.
How to Test a VPS Before You Trust It: 6 Benchmark Commands With Real Numbers
Six free commands tell you whether a VPS is as fast as its plan says: sysbench for CPU and memory, fio for disk, iperf3 for bandwidth, ping and mtr for routing, and vmstat for CPU steal time. We ran all of them on our Amsterdam server, so you get the commands, what every flag means and real numbers to compare with.
Leaving Shared Hosting: The Best Free VPS Control Panels in 2026, Tested
We installed HestiaCP, CloudPanel, aaPanel and Virtualmin on identical KVM virtual machines and measured install time, idle RAM, open ports and outbound traffic. This guide compares them, shows which panel suits which job, and walks through a tested WordPress move off shared hosting.
Run Your Own MCP Servers for Claude and ChatGPT on a VPS
Build a small remote MCP server on a Debian 13 VPS with the official Python SDK, a read-only PostgreSQL user and nginx with HTTPS and a bearer token, test it with the MCP Inspector and Claude Code, and connect it to Claude and ChatGPT. Every command ran in our lab.
Vaultwarden on a VPS: Your Own Password Manager for Family or Team
Run Vaultwarden, the free Bitwarden-compatible server, on a small VPS for your family or team. This guide uses Docker Compose with closed signups and invitations, HTTPS through Caddy, and a backup we actually restored. It also gives lab-measured RAM use and compares the cost with Bitwarden and 1Password plans.
Supabase or PocketBase: A Self-Hosted Firebase Alternative on Your Own Server
We self-hosted PocketBase 0.40.5 with systemd and Supabase v0.8.2 with Docker on identical lab machines. PocketBase idled at about 30 MB of RAM; Supabase ran 11 containers using 1.2 GB. Here are the decision table, both install tracks, tested backups and costs compared with Firebase.
Odoo or Dolibarr on a VDS: An ERP for Small Businesses Without Per-User Fees
Dolibarr or Odoo Community? We installed both with Docker on 2 vCPU and 3 GB of RAM, loaded them with 5 and 20 users, and turned the numbers into server sizes. Includes Odoo's per-user prices for contrast, nightly database backups and where your data lives.
Headscale or NetBird: Run Your Own Mesh VPN Control Server
We installed Headscale 0.29.4 and NetBird 0.80.0 side by side on Debian 13, connected two clients to each, and tested access rules and exit nodes. Here are the measured RAM and disk numbers, the licence differences, and which one fits a home lab or a team.
Matrix and Element: A Self-Hosted Slack or Teams Alternative for Your Company
One afternoon from Slack to your own chat server: we installed Synapse 1.162 with PostgreSQL and Element Web 1.12.30 on Debian 13, created a team from a list, turned federation off and hit the rate-limit trap that breaks history imports. The whole stack used about 245 MB of RAM.
Umami or Plausible on a VPS: Cookie-Free Website Analytics Hosted in the EU
We installed Umami 3.4.0 and Plausible CE v3.2.1 side by side on Debian 13. Umami used about 230 MB of RAM and Plausible about 700 MB. This guide covers what cookie-free really means under ePrivacy and the CNIL rules, gives tested setup commands and shows how to prove that a pageview was counted.
Forgejo on a VPS: Your Own GitHub for a Small Team
A team onboarding guide to Forgejo on a VPS: a signed binary install, HTTPS, SSH on port 22 or 2222, accounts and tokens, Forgejo Actions with forgejo-runner, GitHub mirrors, and a nightly dump with a restore we actually ran. The whole stack used 227 MB of RAM in our lab.
Paperless-ngx on a VPS: Scan, Search and Archive Every Business Document in One Evening
A tested walkthrough for Paperless-ngx 3.3 on a Debian 13 VPS: the official Docker Compose stack, Albanian, German and English OCR (order matters), matching rules, email import, a nightly export we actually restored, measured RAM and OCR times, and record retention rules.
Jitsi Meet on a VPS: Private Video Calls Without Zoom Licences
A tested guide to running Jitsi Meet on your own VPS with the official Docker setup: the ports to open, how to stop strangers creating rooms, what recording really needs, and how much RAM and bandwidth a meeting server uses, with Zoom and Google Meet prices for comparison.
Why Your Business Needs a Geocoding API: Addresses, IP Location and Time Zones with My Geocode
What a geocoding API does for checkouts, store locators, CRM maps and fraud checks, every My Geocode endpoint tested with real answers, drop-in replacement for the Google Maps API, costs at real volumes, and a cached CSV geocoding script.
Claude Code on a VDS: Build and Test Crypto Trading and Alert Bots, Step by Step
How to run Claude Code on a VDS to build crypto bots: Freqtrade in dry-run with a real backtest against holding, API keys locked to a fixed IPv4, exchange limits and MiCA, a Telegram alert bot for prices and news, and a /48 of IPv6 for data collection.
Is Your Linux Server Under a DDoS Attack? Five Commands That Tell You, Tested in Our Lab
Five commands that show a DDoS attack on a Linux server, from packets per second to SYN cookies and the conntrack table, with the numbers they showed during a real SYN and UDP flood in our lab, what the server can fix itself and when to move the fight upstream.
n8n vs Zapier vs Make in 2026: What the Same Workflow Really Costs
One five-step workflow priced on Zapier, Make and n8n Cloud from their official pricing pages, what 10,000, 100,000 and 1 million runs cost, what self-hosting n8n involves, and what its Sustainable Use License allows.
Build a Small Ceph Cluster on Three VPS: A Test Lab, Step by Step
A tested guide to a three-node Ceph lab with cephadm on ordinary VPS servers: an OSD on a one-disk server, block storage with RBD, a shared CephFS, S3 with RGW, and what happened when we switched one node off.
How to Get Your Own ASN and IP Addresses in 2026: Costs, RIPE Steps and Your First BGP Session
What an ASN and your own IP space cost in the RIPE region in 2026, RIPE membership versus a sponsoring LIR, waiting, buying or leasing IPv4, IRR objects and ROAs that upstreams accept, and a BIRD configuration we tested for the first BGP session.
Cheap Windows RDP in Amsterdam, Dublin and Prishtina for Social Media Management
How agencies and freelancers run client social media from one Windows server with a fixed IP: what Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube and X allow, a team desktop with a browser profile per client, which city and plan to pick, and the two-user limit.
Remote DDoS Protection over a GRE Tunnel from Amsterdam: Your Prefixes on GSL, Live in Hours
Keep your network where it is and have your prefixes announced and filtered on Global Secure Layer: GRE from our Amsterdam PoP at Qupra, 500 Mbit/s to 10 Gbit/s of clean traffic, your ASN directly under GSL, and most tunnels live within 2 to 4 hours.
VPS for Nutra and Health Affiliate Offers: Tracker Servers, Fast Landing Pages and the Rules That Keep Campaigns Running
How to host nutra and health affiliate campaigns properly: Keitaro and Binom server sizing from their official docs, a fast landing page server tested on Debian 13, where to place servers for European and Balkan buyers, and the health-claim, review and ad rules that keep offers live.
Move a VMware VM to a KVM VPS: Convert VMDK or OVA to QCOW2 Step by Step
Leaving VMware after the Broadcom changes: prepare Linux and Windows guests for VirtIO, convert VMDK or OVA disks to QCOW2 with qemu-img or virt-v2v, test-boot the result and move it to a KVM VPS, with every command tested on Debian 13.
KVM vs OpenStack vs Proxmox: What Actually Runs Your VPS, Explained Simply
KVM is the engine, OpenStack and Proxmox are the managers on top: the virtualization stack in plain words, how a KVM VPS differs from an OpenVZ or LXC container, and three commands that show what your server really runs.
Game Servers on a VPS: Minecraft, CS2, Rust, Valheim and Palworld Close to Your Players
Your own game server on a VPS or VDS near your players: what Minecraft, Counter-Strike 2, Rust, Valheim and Palworld really need, which ports to open, setup commands updated for 2026 and the mistakes that cost an evening.
Asterisk vs FreePBX for a Small Office Phone System on Your Own VPS
Asterisk is the engine, FreePBX the web interface on top. Which one a small office should run, why FreePBX 17 needs Debian 12, both installs step by step, the ports, codecs and latency that matter, the rules that stop toll fraud, and why a FreePBX 16 box needs replacing.
A Staging Server VPS with Your Own CI Runner and Branch Previews
Your own staging site, CI runner and per-branch previews on a VPS: what it saves in CI minutes and build time, which runner or PaaS to pick, tested Debian 13 commands with Caddy wildcard HTTPS, and the 2026 security lessons from TanStack and actions/checkout v7.
A VPS for Web Scraping: Responsible Monitors with Python and Playwright
A small VPS can watch supplier prices, EU tenders and changing pages around the clock. The rules that keep a scraper welcome, when to pick httpx2, Scrapy or Playwright, and three monitors for Debian 13, tested line by line in October 2026.
Windows VPS with RDP: Remote Desktop for Trading and Office Apps
A Windows Server VPS you reach over Remote Desktop keeps MetaTrader or a Windows-only office program running while your own PC is off. Which plan and city to choose, how to connect from Windows, Mac, phones and Linux, eight steps that keep password-guessing bots out, and the 2026 changes to RDP files and patches.
E-commerce VPS Hosting: Why Speed Is Sales, and How to Run WooCommerce on Your Own Server
A mobile site 0.1 seconds faster went with 8.4% more retail conversions in Deloitte's study for Google. What that means for your shop, the Debian 13 stack that makes WooCommerce fast, keeping card data off your server, and when to move up to a VDS.
Self-Host Open WebUI on a VPS Without a GPU: What a CPU Server Can and Cannot Do for AI
A CPU server runs Open WebUI for a whole team on your own API keys, plus small local models, embeddings and a vector database. What fits in 4 to 32 GB of RAM, measured CPU speeds, a Debian 13 setup tested with Open WebUI 0.11.4 and Ollama 0.35.1, and what still leaves the server.
A Media Server VPS for Jellyfin, Plex, Icecast and AzuraCast: Streams, Sizing and Setup
A media server VPS has bandwidth to spare; the missing GPU and Plex's remote rule are the catches. How many streams a 1 or 10 Gb/s port carries, how to build a library for direct play, Jellyfin with HTTPS and an Icecast radio station step by step on Debian 13, AzuraCast and Owncast, and what changed in Jellyfin 12 and Plex in 2026.
Self-Hosted Mail Server on a VPS: Should You, Which Stack, and How to Reach the Inbox
Should you run your own mail at all? A go or no-go checklist, mailcow vs Mail-in-a-Box vs Stalwart against their official requirements, every DNS record explained, the Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook.com sender rules, and a mailcow setup on Debian 13.
Telegram and Discord Bot Hosting on a VPS: Two Working Bots in Python and Node.js
Your bot works on a laptop and dies when the lid closes. Build a Python Telegram bot and a discord.js bot on a Debian 13 VPS, keep both online with systemd, move Telegram to a webhook behind Caddy and stay clear of the limits that can cost you a token.
Learn Linux on a VPS: A 30-Day Plan From First SSH Login to DevOps
A 30-day plan to learn Linux on a real Debian 13 or Ubuntu server: your first SSH login from Windows, a Mac or a phone, a sudo user, a firewall set up in the right order, SSH keys, real attacks in your own logs, then an exam track and DevOps tools.
Self-Hosted Nextcloud on a VPS: Moving Your Team Off Google Drive or Dropbox in a Weekend
Moving a small team off Google Drive or Dropbox to self-hosted Nextcloud 35 in one weekend: what to prepare on Friday, how much server AIO really needs, Euro-Office or Collabora, the Debian 13 install, backups in three layers, 2FA and where your data should live.
Off-Site VPS Backups with restic and Borg: An Append-Only Setup, and What Replaced MinIO
Encrypted, append-only backups on a second VPS in another city: restic or Borg, rest-server set up step by step on Debian 13, Windows PCs, a retention rule attackers cannot game, what to use now that MinIO is archived, and a monthly restore drill.
Self-Host PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis and MongoDB on a Database VPS
When a database VPS beats a managed database, which engine to choose, how much RAM each plan gives it, tested Debian 13 setups for PostgreSQL 18, MariaDB, Valkey and MongoDB 9.0, safe remote access, and backups you have actually restored.
Reverse Proxy and Free HTTPS on a VPS: Caddy vs Nginx vs Traefik
One VPS, many apps, free HTTPS for every name. Caddy, Nginx with Certbot and Traefik compared on Debian 13, with tested commands, the 2026 certificate lifetime and rate limit rules, hardening and the errors you will actually meet.
Self-Hosted Server Monitoring with Uptime Kuma, Prometheus and Grafana from a Second Location
A monitor on the server it watches goes silent when that server fails. How to run Uptime Kuma, Prometheus, Alertmanager and Grafana on a small VPS in another city, with Telegram alerts, tested Debian 13 commands and the defaults worth changing.
Run Docker on a VPS: Compose Stacks, Portainer and a Small Kubernetes Node
Docker runs best on a real KVM virtual machine. Setting it up on an RS Computers VPS, a Compose stack with Caddy and Portainer, the firewall mistake almost everyone makes, backups, k3s and twelve things worth self-hosting.
WordPress and Websites on a VPS: Why Move Off Shared Hosting and How to Start
Shared hosting is cheap until your site matters. What a VPS or VDS gives WordPress, Laravel and static sites, why host it with RS Computers, and a 20-minute setup with a free control panel.
Self-Host n8n on a VPS: Setup Guide and 12 Business Use Cases
Why businesses self-host n8n on a VPS instead of paying per task, twelve automations from lead capture to AI agents, and a Docker Compose setup you can finish in 15 minutes.
Why Buy a VPS in Kosovo? 7 Benefits for Your Business
Shorter network paths through local peering, content governed by Kosovo law, your own private VPN and data that stays in the country: why a VPS in Kosovo makes sense.
WireGuard VPN in Kosovo: YouTube Without Ads (Debian 13)
Your own private VPN with a Kosovo IP: YouTube without ads on every device, safe public Wi-Fi, and a step-by-step WireGuard setup on Debian 13.
OpenStack Load Balancer as a Service (LBaaS): How Octavia Works, With a CLI Walkthrough
Neutron LBaaS is gone and Octavia is OpenStack's load balancer. How its controllers and HAProxy amphorae fit together, when the lighter OVN provider is enough, a CLI walkthrough with TLS and L7 rules, real HA settings and the PENDING_CREATE trap.
Ceph Object Storage and Block Storage Explained: RGW, RBD, Architecture and Cloud Use in 2026
How Ceph object storage (RGW) and RBD block storage work, when to pick block, object or CephFS, how OpenStack and Rook use them, what hardware and network a cluster needs, and which release to run now that Squid reaches end of life.
cPanel to Kubernetes: What Replaces It, How to Move Sites, Mail and DNS, and When Not To
cPanel now licenses by the account and keeps each site on a single server. What a Kubernetes stack uses in its place in 2026, how to move sites, mail and DNS in reversible steps, and when a VPS with HestiaCP or CloudPanel is the better step.
Migrate from VMware to OpenStack: Why Teams Leave Broadcom and How to Move Your VMs
Why teams leave VMware after Broadcom, what replaces vCenter, vMotion, DRS, HA, vSAN and NSX in OpenStack, how to convert VMDK disks with virt-v2v and qemu-img, cut over in waves, and when Proxmox or a hosted VPS is the smarter move.
OKD on OpenStack in 2026: Installing OKD 5 Kubernetes with IPI or UPI
OKD 5.0 runs Kubernetes 1.36 on CentOS Stream CoreOS 10, and OpenStack is one of its documented platforms. What your OpenStack project needs, when to pick IPI or UPI, how Octavia, Cinder, Manila and Swift plug in, and how upgrades work since OKD Cincinnati.
What Is OKD Kubernetes? How It Compares with Red Hat OpenShift, Plain Kubernetes and k3s
OKD is the free Kubernetes distribution OpenShift is built from. What the name means, OKD 5.0 vs OpenShift, plain Kubernetes and k3s, what it adds, the hardware it really needs, who supports it and when to pick something lighter.
Proxmox vs OpenStack: An Honest 2026 Comparison of Proxmox VE 9 and OpenStack Hibiscus
Proxmox VE 9.2 or OpenStack 2026.2 Hibiscus? An honest comparison by team size and use case: quotas and multi-tenancy, Proxmox SDN against Neutron and OVN, Ceph, HA, node limits, support, how KVM fits both, and where CloudStack and OpenNebula sit.
OpenStack Advantages and Disadvantages in 2026: Is It Still Relevant?
OpenStack runs on more than 55 million production cores by the latest official estimate, but it costs real staff time and yearly upgrades. Its advantages and disadvantages, who runs it today, the VMware effect, and a short guide to deciding whether you need it.
What Is VPNaaS? VPN as a Service Explained, and How OpenStack Neutron VPNaaS Works in 2026
VPNaaS means VPN as a Service: gateways a provider runs for you. Both meanings explained, cloud VPN and OpenStack's neutron-vpnaas, with the 2024 to 2026 changes, an openstack CLI site-to-site example, WireGuard as an alternative and fixes for DOWN tunnels.
OpenStack SDN in 2026: Neutron, OVN and When You Still Need an External Controller
Neutron with ML2/OVN is the SDN layer most OpenStack clouds need in 2026. This guide covers what became of OpenDaylight, Tungsten Fabric, Calico and Dragonflow, when an external controller still pays off, BGP in the OVN driver, SR-IOV, DPDK and SD-WAN.