Hello devs! đź‘‹
I'm Mert, a solo developer. Recently, I built Blohem (https://blohem.misya.me), an experimental "Digital Noise Archive".
The concept is simple but radical: An anonymous social platform with no likes, no profiles, and no vanity metrics. Just raw thoughts.
While building it, I faced a common dilemma: "Serverless or VPS?"
The Problem: Serverless Limits
I started with a standard Next.js deployment on Vercel. It was great for the frontend—fast builds, global CDN, zero config.
But Blohem relies on "Witness" nodes—background services that need to be consistently alive to handle the data flow without cold starts. Pure serverless functions were timing out or getting expensive for my specific backend needs.
The Solution: The Hybrid Stack 🚀
Instead of choosing one, I chose both.
- Frontend (Vercel): I kept the Next.js App Router frontend on Vercel to leverage the Edge Network. It serves the UI instantly to users worldwide.
- Backend (Azure + Docker): I moved the core logic and the "Witness" nodes into Docker containers hosted on Azure.
This setup gives me the "best of both worlds":
- ⚡ Vercel: Blazing fast UI delivery.
- 🛡️ Azure Docker: Full control over the runtime, no cold starts, and predictable performance for the heavy lifting.
The Tech Stack
- Framework: Next.js
- Styling: Tailwind CSS (Minimalist, dark-mode only)
- Backend: Node.js (Dockerized)
- Infra: Microsoft Azure
Live Demo
I'd love to get your feedback on the "atmosphere" and the speed. Does the hybrid approach feel snappy from your location?
đź”— Try it here: https://blohem.misya.me
Let me know what you think about this hybrid approach!
Cheers,
Mert
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