This is a throw away account, in case I end up working with someone that reads this post.
I've been lurking on this community with my main account for a few months now. I have ideas on what I'd like to self-host but between my ADHD, perfectionism, and anxiety, I'm frozen.
I need help selecting and implementing an initial set up. I'm not an IT professional but I'm a reasonably advanced user, so I'm confident I can do the setup work and ongoing management myself. I just need someone to:
- Discuss the big picture of what's involved in self-hosting and help fill in gaps in my understanding;
- Help me decide on the best initial setup for my needs and skill level;
- Hold my hand during the setup phase and make sure I'm not doing anything stupid;
- Ideally be available long term for the occassional question.
I'm willing to pay a fair hourly rate for this assistance. If someone in this community is interested, please dm me. You might want to use a throw away for that too, assuming this work can't be done anonymously.
Alternatively, any suggestions for good websites to find a consultant, and what skills I should be looking for, would also be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for reading. Wishing you all the best for 2026.
Edit: I appreciate all the offers for free help on this forum.
I perhaps didn't explain well enough that what I really need is a knowledgeable coach, who can get me moving and provide guidance. I bought the Official Pi-hole Raspberry Pi 4 Kit a few months ago and it's still sitting on my desk gathering dust. Embarrassing but true.
Self hosting what? I assume a piefed instance, but knowing for sure would be good. I host mastodon, but not piefed. The differences between those should be relatively minor.
The basics are similar:
I’d start simple and grow as you become more confident in your skills. It’s not rocket surgery - if you have advanced skills, you’ll be fine. Even playing with 1-6 above would be good for skill building.
There is nothing illegal about what you’ve stated thus far - so I’m not sure why you are approaching this from a secretive “throw away” standpoint. Why do you think secrecy is needed?
Your number 1 question can be quite involved, so that probably needs to be probed the most.
For 2 I’d do docker - very simple and straightforward.
For 3 it’s just getting your vm setup right. I’d probably recommend Ubuntu server and then put docker on that. Tons of guides for doing that. You could use other OS flavors, but Ubuntu is a good first choice.
Solid advice.
To selfhost you first need to know what you want to do, do you want your own vpn service? your website? home assistant? then you decide what you need to host it and start building from that.
I, for example, started the serious journey in 2016 with a raspberry pi 3 with pihole, samba and qbittorrent, and started from that and now I have my own rack.
Agreed - answering the first questions - and deciding where you are willing to accept risk is a huge portion of the process.
Raspberry Pi’s are a huge gateway drug. :) My kubernetes cluster is 4 pi 4B’s in a rack. Great for learning and polishing skills.