How I Deployed Multiple Self-Hosted Services on a Single VPS Using Docker

#devops #docker #infrastructure

Over the past few years, I've experimented with many hosting providers while building AI applications, automation workflows, and self-hosted infrastructure.

Recently, I consolidated several services onto a single VPS using Docker, with the goal of reducing costs while keeping deployment and maintenance simple.

The Stack

The server currently runs:

Docker & Docker Compose
PostgreSQL
Traefik Reverse Proxy
n8n
Vaultwarden
Uptime Kuma
AI services
Other personal projects

Everything runs in isolated containers, making updates and backups much easier.

Why Docker?

Using Docker provides several advantages:

Consistent deployments
Easy backups and migrations
Better resource utilization
Simplified updates
Cleaner infrastructure management

Instead of configuring each application directly on the server, every service has its own container and configuration.

Why This Setup?

My goals were:

Reduce monthly infrastructure costs
Keep everything self-hosted
Make deployments reproducible
Learn production-grade DevOps practices

For personal projects and small teams, this setup has worked well.

Lessons Learned

A few things made the biggest difference:

Always use automated backups.
Monitor CPU, RAM, and disk usage.
Keep Docker images updated.
Use HTTPS from day one.
Store secrets securely instead of hardcoding them.

Hosting

For this deployment, I used a Hostinger VPS because it matched my budget and performed well for my workload.

If you're planning to build a similar self-hosted environment and would like a discount, you can use my referral link:

[https://www.hostinger.com?REFERRALCODE=IMNAZEEZAYOP]

Disclosure: This is a referral link. If you purchase through it, you may receive a discount, and I may earn a referral reward at no additional cost to you.

What's Next?

I'm planning to publish detailed guides covering: