The services are maybe hosted by myself, but the servers aren’t mine. I’m only borrowing a small chunk of resources from some company, so can it still be considered self-hosting?
I’d say it’s not but there isn’t a good label for what it is.
Self-hosting is just a generalized term for running your own stacks instead of just using the standard corpo stuff. It’s not a regimen or lifestyle or anything like that. Don’t worry about the terminology.
Agreed! I feel like there is an underlying question here. Like, did the OP get called out for not-really-selfhosting-because-VPS?
You do not need to define the word just because you want to host your own server for product X.
i’d argue yes. if it’s just a plain linux vps without any additional services, you’re still doing plenty of setup yourself.
Self-hosting isn’t only just about owning the metal, but it’s also the freedom to configure things the way you want, and to be sovereign of your data.
If you’re not cycling a pedal-powered generator to run your system then is it really self-hosted? My servers only use organic transistors grown in my zen garden.
I run a hybrid: 3 VPS and a rack in the closet. I don’t get hung up about labels. I leave that to others who obsess about that sort of stuff.
It’s self hosting. Is it home lab? Nope. Though plenty of people use VPS as a way to terminate their VPN connections and such.
That’s a good distinction, thanks
I would say that the software side all qualifies. You’re setting up the full software stack; that’s definitely self-“something”.
I, personally, would only consider it “self hosting” if I can take a sledge hammer to the bare metal without getting arrested.
But, I acknowledge that is an arbitrary, puritanical distinction. I don’t look down on VPS; they have specific pros and cons, and I use them myself. I just think that “self hosting” includes hardware factors, not just the software.
You sound like someone who has used a printer, and likely has seen a PC Load Letter error. Ha!
Real printers used real paper…
