Leapfrog Technology, Inc.
65,610 followers
March 3, 2026
Written by: Kritish Dhaubanjar, Lead Engineer
It all started on a long flight. I couldn’t sleep, so I pulled out my laptop to get some work done. I was developing a feature, not critical, just one of those small experiments, but as soon as I tried to spin up the architecture locally, I hit a wall.
At home, I always had reliable internet and ready access to cloud services like AWS. On the aeroplane… nothing.
The application relied on Amazon DynamoDB, and I had never bothered setting up a local environment. I was stuck.
Luckily, I could continue some work on the React front-end by improvising a few steps. But it got me thinking: if DynamoDB was already a challenge, what about all the other cloud services I rely on, like S3?
The idea: A portable, self-hosted server
I started wondering how far I could go with self-hosting, running all these services locally in a small, portable device I could take anywhere. My requirements were clear:
- Portability: Something I could grab and go.
- Always-on: 24/7 runtime without heating up my house (or my electricity bill).
- Silent operation: No buzzing fans.
After some research, I settled on a mini PC the size of two stacked smartphones—small, efficient, and surprisingly powerful.
Why not just use my laptop?
At first, I considered using my laptop to spin up all the services. But quickly, I realized that wasn’t practical:
- I wouldn’t leave my laptop powered 24/7.
- The mini PC can run off something as simple as a car battery, consumes very little power, and is fanless, so it’s completely silent.
- One failed Linux update, and your laptop might refuse to boot. That has happened to me more times than I can count, and if that laptop is also running your DNS server, suddenly the entire home network loses internet because queries can’t be resolved.
A dedicated mini PC solved all of these problems: always-on, low-power, silent, and resilient.
The setup begins
I started simple:
- DynamoDB with a local console UI.
- MinIO to mimic S3 storage.
- PostgreSQL + pgAdmin for relational databases.
- Redis + Redis Insights.
- MySQL + phpMyAdmin.
- Elasticsearch + Kibana.
At this point, I had replicated a lot of my work environment, but the mini PC was clearly underutilized. It was marketed to run Windows 10 with Intel inside, so surely, it could do more.
Discovering the self-hosting ecosystem
In my search for options, I stumbled upon Selfhosted, a treasure trove for anyone wanting to break free from cloud dependencies.
One gem I found was Immich, a self-hosted photo and video management platform. Paired with Nextcloud, and backed by a 2TB storage drive, it became my daily media hub.
Now, as I take photos and videos, everything syncs automatically to Immich at the end of the day. It organizes content in galleries, on maps, and even uses machine learning to identify faces or objects, so I can search “picture in suit” or “quadbike” and find exactly what I need.
I later published my DynamoDB Dashboard UI to Selfhosted so it could be of use to someone else looking to run a local DynamoDB setup, sharing a small tool that helped me a lot felt like a natural step.
Networking, DNS, and power resilience
To make access easier, I spun up my own DNS server and network-wide ad-blockers. With Nginx acting as a reverse proxy, I can host all my services on local subdomains like:
This setup not only makes my services look and feel professional, but also gives me full control over how traffic is routed in my home network.
To protect the entire setup, I went on a side quest to install battery backup for the mini PC and associated services, beyond the DC UPS on my rack. I had a dead UPS that Leapfrog had gifted me years back when power cuts were frequent and unpredictable. I bought a new car battery, got some thick-gauge battery wires and clips, and hacked together a clean setup to power the entire server stack.
I’m not the best electrician out there, but my engineering background ensures it’s safe and not a fire hazard. This gives me confidence that my home server stays online even during power outages—no interruptions, no downtime.
Beyond cloud rebellion: My home server as a utility hub
What started as a small rebellion against cloud services quickly grew into a full ecosystem:
- Utilities: Password managers, cron jobs, account trackers.
- Media streaming: Jellyfin for videos, Navidrome for music.
- Documentation: DocMost, which I’m currently using to draft this blog.
- Virtual environments: VirtualBox to spin up Windows VMs whenever needed.
- Automation: n8n connects my scanner to the server, automatically sending scanned documents to Paperless (with OCR).
Going remote
The last piece of the puzzle was remote access. Initially, I could only reach my server on the home network. A co-worker suggested a VPN-like solution. Now, with a simple switch on my phone or laptop, I can instantly access everything—my databases, media, automation workflows, and documentation, no matter where I am.
The takeaway
What started as a restless night on a plane turned into a journey of rediscovery. I realized self-hosting isn’t just about running your own servers, but about control, learning, and freedom from dependency on cloud providers. My little mini PC isn’t just a machine; it’s a portable command center for work, media, and personal automation.
Self-hosting may sound like a hobbyist’s pursuit, but for me, it has become a critical tool for productivity, privacy, and creativity. And the best part? It all fits in the size of two stacked smartphones, runs silently on minimal power, has battery backup, and I can access it securely from anywhere in the world.
