56 posts in this category.
The fourth and final post in the trackers series — flip the architecture from private extension to a public digital twin website. Many extensions feeding one database, periodic exports from Google Takeout / Apple Health / YouTube history, real-time webhooks from Strava and Last.fm, displayed beautifully on web and mobile PWA. Free hosting, free database, your data, your face on the internet.
The honest 2026 map of free public WRITE APIs for every media type — movies, TV, anime, manga, books, audiobooks, podcasts, music, games, visual novels, fitness, and YouTube — so you can build one browser extension that scrobbles everything. Plus why Open Library is the right books pick, why Letterboxd was cut, and where the real coverage gaps are.
A comprehensive engineering specification and vision document for envpact: a $0, serverless, Git-backed secrets management ecosystem with a Node.js CLI, Python module, MCP server, VS Code extension, GitHub Action, and web dashboard — all designed for solo developers managing 100+ public repositories.
A no-hype guide to what AI agents can do today for coding, automation, research, content, security, local systems, and personal productivity — with the operating model needed to use them safely.
Why Doppler and dotenvx fall short for solo developers with 100+ public repos — and how to build and package a 100% free, central secrets manager using a private Git repository and a Node.js CLI.
A comprehensive 25-part engineering series on transforming an old Windows laptop into a full-featured bare-metal home server without installing WSL, Linux, or virtual machines—hosting Caddy, Cloudflare Tunnels, OwnCloud OCIS, Jellyfin, Ollama, n8n, and more.
Prepare your bare-metal Windows server. Learn how to completely uninstall WSL/Ubuntu and reclaim disk space, harden Windows power settings for 24/7 uptime, manage forced update reboots, configure auto-login, and wrap applications as native services using NSSM.
Set up high-performance native PostgreSQL and MariaDB databases. Integrate backups with MinIO or Cloudflare R2 (10GB/month free tier) to replace paid RDS and S3 options.
Eliminate SaaS subscription limits. Deploy Authelia for single sign-on (SSO) and Umami (on SQLite) for web traffic analytics.
Gather system and container performance metrics using Prometheus, Windows Exporter, Loki, and Grafana for real-time visualization and alerting.
Enable remote server access and create a private overlay mesh network for all user devices at zero cost using Tailscale's free tier.
Configure a photo library sync (Lychee or OCIS Photos) to backup mobile media directly to the server's 1TB HDD, bypassing monthly cloud storage fees.
Build a cross-platform password sync system using KeePassXC and WebDAV (via OwnCloud OCIS) for maximum security and zero ongoing costs.
Schedule background scripts natively using Windows Task Scheduler, with execution logs, log rotation, and instant failure alerts pushed to Telegram.
Deploy a native instance of LinkStack or a lightweight URL shortener behind Caddy to manage link redirection under a custom subdomain.
Utilize Cloudflare Email Routing for free inbound forwarding and set up Mailrise as an SMTP-to-app gateway to forward alerts as push notifications.
Install Miniflux or Wallabag natively on Windows to manage your RSS feeds and save articles for offline reading.
Configure local routing and secure WAN exposure. Install the native Windows port of Caddy Server as a service, write a lightweight Caddyfile for automated HTTPS, and deploy a native Windows Cloudflare Tunnel (cloudflared.exe) to bypass ISP CGNAT without opening router ports.
A complete cost audit measuring the power draw of the laptop, comparing it against VPS providers, and reviewing the hybrid checklist.
Bypass Sentry's paid tier limits. Set up native file logging, console redirection, and custom PowerShell scripts to catch runtime exceptions.
Create public, white-labeled status pages for your services natively using Uptime Kuma, without paying for third-party hosting.
Self-host Chatwoot or a lightweight Go chat widget behind Caddy to chat with your website visitors without Intercom subscriptions.
Build a custom Node/Python form handler that registers submissions in a local SQLite database and forwards entries directly to Telegram.
A step-by-step migration playbook to transition database schemas, API routes, and schedules from cloud VPS platforms to your Windows server.
Establish data synchronization and lightweight backends. Install and configure OwnCloud Infinite Scale (OCIS)—a modern, single-binary Go-based Nextcloud alternative—alongside FileBrowser and PocketBase running natively on Windows.
Deploy essential management tools natively via Node.js. Setup Uptime Kuma and n8n directly on Windows Node.js runtimes, run them as background services, and configure process management with PM2 for Windows.
Turn your server into an entertainment hub. Set up a native Windows installation of Jellyfin, leverage the integrated Intel UHD Graphics G1 GPU for hardware-accelerated transcoding (QuickSync QSV), and secure your streams.
Unlock offline AI capabilities and set up long-term automation. Install Ollama for Windows with direct GPU integration, run Open WebUI natively via Python/pip, and write PowerShell automation for disk cleaning, service monitoring, and Telegram health notifications.
Host multiple dynamic subdomains (api.yourdomain.com, dashboard.yourdomain.com) on different local ports using a single Caddy reverse-proxy instance, while keeping the corporate website on Cloudflare Pages for free.
Run native Telegram bots on Windows, routing webhooks through Caddy with automated HTTPS certificates to enable zero-latency, polling-free bot performance.
Build a 100% free auto-deployment pipeline. Configure GitHub Webhooks to notify a lightweight native endpoint on your server, pulling code, updating packages, and auto-restarting background processes.
A step-by-step guide to turning your HP Pavilion 14-dv2077TU (i5-1235U, 16GB DDR4 dual-channel) into a full-featured Windows home server—without wiping Windows—hosting Docker services, Cloudflare tunnels, Ollama, Open WebUI, Odysseus AI, Nextcloud, Vaultwarden, and more.
A comprehensive 5-part engineering series on transforming an HP 15s-du2077TU (i5-1035G1, 16GB RAM, 1TB HDD + 256GB SSD) into a full-featured Windows home server—without wiping your OS—hosting Docker, Cloudflare Tunnels, Ollama, Odysseus AI, Nextcloud, and more.
A comprehensive deep-dive into transforming your HP 15s-du2077TU (i5-1035G1, 16 GB RAM) into a Windows home server. Part 1 covers hardware analysis, battery safety, BIOS tuning, Windows power settings, WSL2 installation and resource limits, native Docker Engine setup inside Linux, and the dual-drive storage layout strategy.
Deploy cloudflared as a Windows system service for zero-port-forward HTTPS access, configure Caddy reverse proxy inside Docker, and build the core self-hosted stack: Portainer, Nextcloud, Vaultwarden, Uptime Kuma, and n8n — all on your HP 15s-du2077TU running Windows with WSL2.
Deploy a complete local AI stack on the HP 15s-du2077TU (i5-1035G1, 16 GB RAM). Covers the physics of CPU-only LLM inference and DDR4-2666 memory bandwidth math, Ollama model selection for 16 GB, Open WebUI for ChatGPT-style chat, Odysseus AI workspace with autonomous agents, Flowise for visual AI pipelines, and Qdrant for vector search RAG.
Master the operational side of your HP 15s-du2077TU home server: advanced Task Scheduler reliability, a comprehensive PowerShell health monitor with Telegram alerts, WSL2 clock drift fixes, OOM recovery, DNS troubleshooting, Restic cloud backups, and configuring the laptop for seamless dual-use as a daily driver and background server simultaneously.
A rigorous financial analysis of your HP 15s-du2077TU home server: exact electricity cost in Indian Rupees with state-wise tariff breakdowns, 3-year TCO vs. AWS Lightsail, Hetzner Cloud, and Hostinger VPS, WSL2 vs. bare-metal performance audit, and a hybrid architecture design combining local hardware with free cloud services.
A comprehensive guide for students with an academic email address who are unable to verify the GitHub Student Developer Pack. Learn how to claim $100 free annual Azure credits, spin up a free B1s virtual machine 24/7, and access free JetBrains, Notion, and Canva education benefits.
Looking for a reliable server under ₹1200/month? We break down the best virtual private servers for hosting Docker, Telegram bots, APIs, and multiple websites in the Indian and global markets.
Is it really possible to host your entire stack, Docker containers, and Telegram bots on free tiers? We analyze Oracle Cloud, GCP, AWS, Render, Koyeb, and Cloudflare to expose their real limitations.
Why let old hardware go to waste? A comprehensive, 5-part engineering guide to transforming a retired HP 15s laptop (i5-1035G1, 16GB RAM) into a secure, optimized bare-metal home server.
Transform an old HP 15s laptop (Intel i5-1035G1, 16GB RAM) into a high-performance home server. Part 1 covers hardware assessment, thermal mitigation, battery safety, BIOS tuning, Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS installation, and security hardening.
Maximize 16GB of RAM on your home server. Part 2 debunks the container memory sharing myth, compares Bun vs Node.js, configures PM2, sets Docker cgroup limits, details Python bot optimization, and maps a complete server memory budget.
Securely expose your home server to the internet without port forwarding. Part 3 covers CGNAT workarounds, Cloudflare Tunnels, Tailscale VPN, Caddy reverse proxy, HTTPS Telegram webhooks, and advanced security hardening.
Run local LLMs on your 16GB home server. Part 4 covers CPU inference physics, Ollama setup, model comparison (Phi-4, Qwen, Hermes), agent frameworks (OpenClaw vs Hermes), coding agents (Aider, OpenHands), and visual workflow builders.
A comprehensive financial and operational comparison of a self-hosted laptop server vs cloud VPS providers. Covers power consumption math, state-wise electricity tariffs, 3-year TCO tables, a 15-dimension comparison matrix, hybrid architecture design, and battery/SSD health automation scripts.
An exhaustive guide comparing virtual machines (VMs) and virtual private servers (VPS) across global hyperscalers, developer-focused clouds, and budget-friendly hosts, with detailed hardware, network, and pricing tables.
Open Windows 11 Task Manager and see hundreds of node.exe, python.exe, and bun.exe processes eating your RAM? Here is the deep dive into why this happens, how to identify the culprits, and how to stop them.
A comprehensive guide to transforming a retired Windows Home laptop into a reliable, headless home server. Learn how to configure WSL2, install Docker natively inside Linux (saving 1.5GB RAM), bypass sleep/update reboots, automate startup with Task Scheduler, and monitor system health via PowerShell.
Lost your laptop? Lost your .env files forever. This 5000-word guide compares 10+ platforms for backing up, syncing, and managing environment variables across hundreds of public GitHub repositories — with a full cost breakdown for solo developers.
Static hosting is everywhere. But where do you host a real Node.js or Python server for free? This guide covers every platform — from Render to Oracle Cloud — with exact CPU, RAM, sleep policies, and honest trade-offs for each.
A deep-dive analysis of the blog.oriz.in repository: architecture, component design, deployment automation, coding conventions, and lessons learned from building a production Astro blog.
How to build fast, free, client-side SPA using Astro's static output and React, deployable on Cloudflare Pages with zero server costs.
Real-world insights from designing scalable backend systems handling millions of requests daily at Tata Consultancy Services.
How Cloudflare Workers changed the way I think about backend architecture, and why edge computing is the future.