Over the years, the internet has become a more centralised entity. With many of the world’s most popular websites and services being hosted using platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS). This isn’t a good thing when it comes to redundancy and availability. It’s time to take back control and take a look at some awesome self-hosted privacy and security tools experts from hide.me VPN picked for you!
Internet migration
In the infancy of the internet, it was more common to see disparate communities hosted on their own platforms. Forums, for example, were once extremely popular and a major way to communicate online. But over the years, forums have all but died out, with only a few major ones remaining, and even fewer smaller niche ones still existing.
This is because bigger players moved into town. The likes of reddit, Facebook Groups, and more recently Discord. Have all eaten the lunch of your average forum. With these huge platforms, we see more users being housed under one roof, leading to a centralisation of the internet.
The centralisation of the internet
Looking at the internet on a wider scale, we start to identify a problem. There is a major centralisation of the most popular websites and services all using the same 2 or 3 platform backbones.
The most popular of these is AWS, Amazon’s chief money-maker nowadays. AWS accounts for 33% of all cloud usage. Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud are in the second and third places with 18% and 9% respectively.
Here is just a few of the most popular websites and services running on AWS:
- Netflix
- ESPN
- Twitch
- BBC
- Adobe
- Baidu
When AWS goes down, so does the internet
There have been multiple times over the last few years where an outage at one major platform like AWS has downed a large amount of the internet. The last one for AWS was in December 2021, when the likes of Netflix and Disney+ went down for over an hour. Another example, this time Google Cloud, is back in November of 2021. When Google’s servers went down, so did the likes of Discord, Snapchat, and Spotify again for around an hour.
There have been other outages that have lasted multiple hours, rather than just one. And these sorts of outages can result in a lot of lost money. Especially a service like Slack for example. A service aimed at workplace communication and collaboration. It went down at the start of 2022 for multiple hours, disrupting businesses all over the world.
One great resource to look into all of the AWS outages is this fantastic timeline put together by the AWS Maniac.
Why centralisation of the internet is a problem
The examples above are just a small sample of the outages of just a few cloud platforms that remove large portions of the most popular parts of the internet. The already centralised internet that absorbed the smaller parts, is now centralised onto a select few platforms.
This is a problem, mainly from a redundancy standpoint. But also, from a privacy and security point of view too. The internet is vital to modern living, and it being so vulnerable from just a few vectors of attack is dangerous. We’ve seen that in recent times, and it doesn’t seem like the reliance on cloud providers will be diminishing anytime soon.
Thankfully, there are people out there that see this and develop tools that help reduce this reliance on these services, and therefore our reliance on cloud providers like AWS.
What is self-hosting?
Self-hosting is using your own hardware to host different programs and tools. There is a whole community out there dedicated to self-hosting and the benefits it can bring.
A big part of self-hosting is being in control of your own data. With something like Google Docs, for example, all your data is stored on Google’s servers. And Google can look through every single one of your documents. But with a self-hosted and open-source alternative like Etherpad, it never leaves your server. There are many alternatives to cloud services you are accustomed to. Here are just a few of our favourite self-hosted options!
Bitwarden
Bitwarden is a very popular password manager. In fact, like many other self-hosted options, they also offer a paid option that they host for you. But if you self-host Bitwarden, you get access to all of their Premium features, without having to pay a subscription fee.
Bitwarden is a very robust password manager, featuring native applications for all major operating systems, and very handy browser extensions. It makes it easy to keep your passwords secure and organised, you can even use it for 2FA! If you have multiple users, you can also share login details.
Bitwarden is a fantastic tool that any budding self-hosting enthusiast should have running. Especially if you aren’t already using a password manager.
Authelia
If you want to be able to access your self-hosted services over the internet, Authelia is a must-have.
Odds are you will be using a reverse proxy if you want to access your self-hosting over the internet, and with Authelia, it adds an extra authentication layer before anyone can access that specific service. Essentially creating a secure login system for any one of your self-hosted services.
It even supports 2FA using a variety of methods. Putting services from big companies to shame. An awesome tool to have.
Matrix
Matrix is an open messaging protocol built on a foundation of privacy and security. It allows you to use several different clients to chat one on one or speak with big communities like in Discord.
Matrix is 100% self-hostable and allows you to essentially create and host your own messaging platform. Where none of your chats goes near the likes of Facebook or Amazon. End-to-end encryption is currently implemented but restricts some of the features available. But Matrix is still quite young and is always improving.
If you are looking to host your own WhatsApp or Discord alternative, Matrix is the one for you. If you would like to learn more about Matrix, we have a whole blog piece on it here.
PsiTransfer
Are you looking for a quick and easy way to send files to people without having to go through the hassle of something like Google Drive or Dropbox? Look no further than PsiTransfer. A simple and open-source way to send files to anyone you please.
Simply choose the file you want to send, how long the download should be up for, and add a password if you want. Share the URL and that’s all there is to it. PsiTransfer is a genuinely useful tool if you find yourself sharing files often and don’t want your data to end up on a company’s server somewhere. To be honest, it’s even better than the aforementioned services. And well worth a place on your home server.
Nextcloud
Nextcloud is a very popular self-hosted alternative to Google Drive or other similar cloud storage providers. It works in much the same way, but all your data is stored on your terms. Nextcloud has a lot of community support and is actively developed.
There are also some great plugins to expand functionality like adding a Google Docs style platform for creating and collaborating on documents. A really versatile and privacy-respecting alternative to the likes of Google Docs and OneDrive.
Seafile
Seafile is another Google Drive alternative that is also very robust and flexible but aimed more at a professional market. Still, it is self-hostable and has loads of great features that you come to expect from similar cloud services. Including collaboration on documents using Microsoft Office Online, OnlyOffice, and Collabora.
Seafile also has great security and privacy-related features like 2FA support, remote wipe, virus scanning, and encryption. It also has a really handy syncing capability, for those that tend to use that feature a lot.
Open Trashmail
There are a few services out there that will give you a random throwaway email address for those times you don’t want to give out your main email. But there is also a free, self-hostable alternative as well in Open Trashmail.
Open Trashmail can generate random email addresses for you to use with a well-designed and easy to understand interface. If you want to cut down on spam, Open Trashmail is a must-have. A great and well put together application you didn’t know you needed.
TeamSpeak
TeamSpeak has been around for a long time and is mainly used by gamers for quick and clear VoIP. But there is no reason it can’t be used for general voice chat as well. TeamSpeak is self-hostable and is genuinely one of the most responsive and best sounding options when it comes to online chat. Especially if you play games with people, you will find the latency far outstrips things like Discord and that is WITH end-to-end encryption.
TeamSpeak’s original design is quite dated, and definitely not as user friendly as competitors. But a massive redesign is almost complete and it really helps bring TeamSpeak to a whole new level. Even making it useful as a general messaging and community tool. If you are looking for a way to game and communicate with your friends over voice chat, TeamSpeak cannot be beaten.
Home Assistant
Smart homes and IoT are big things nowadays. With doorbells, lights, heating, and everything in between now having an option for being controlled over the internet. But for many, they don’t want their data being transmitted to a big company to use for analytics. Or, as we’ve seen in the past, you can’t use a certain appliance because the servers are down. That’s where Home Assistant comes in.
Home Assistant is a free and open-source way to modernise your home with smart technology and still keep control of your data. The community behind Home Assistant is huge and has integrations for just about every IoT device and platform you can think of. And with robust automation tools, you can make your smart home work for you, and not a megacorporation.
Mattermost
Are you a small business that is trying to make working from home a seamless experience for your team without breaking the bank? Take a look at Mattermost.
A self-hostable alternative to the industry giant that is Slack. It functions exactly like Slack, but you are in control of your data. And you don’t have to worry about downtime as we’ve already discussed that has brought down Slack over the years.
Kutt
Looking for a simple and open-source URL shortener? Then host Kutt for yourself. You can use custom domains, monitor statistics, and even use the API to manage your URLs. Kutt is just useful tool to have on hand, especially for those who regularly post links on Twitter.
Pi-Hole
Are you fed up with ads online getting in the way of your web browsing experience? Then Pi-Hole is a fantastic network-wide adblocker to block both ads and trackers. Being as strict or lenient as you want it to be.
As the name may suggest, Pi-Hole was first created as a program to run on a Raspberry Pi but has since been ported to run on basically anything, even your average PC. Pi-Hole won’t block ads on places like YouTube but is a great tool to have for devices that don’t have easy access to system-wide adblocking, like a smartphone.
Jellyfin
Online streaming is everywhere these days, so why not be your own Netflix with a media solution like Jellyfin? Jellyfin is a media server that scrapes your media and presents it to you in a pleasant and easy to use UI similar to those found on major streaming platforms. Jellyfin is great for those with large movie, TV, and music collections as a central place to access your media.
There are other more popular alternatives like Plex and Emby, but Jellyfin is the only completely free and open-source option. That’s why it’s been chosen ahead of its competitors. It isn’t quite as robust as its counterparts, but the open-source and free nature is admirable and should be rewarded.
Self-hosting downsides
Self-hosting isn’t an option for everyone. It does require you to be tech literate. A lot of these solutions need technical knowledge to be set up safely and properly. If you are looking to learn, this is a great place to start, but just be aware of the consequences of improperly configured network settings that can expose you to malicious entities. There are great resources out there to learn from regarding this, many communities are happy to help guide you through the process.
You also will need hardware, and this can be as cheap or as expensive as you want. Some people run lots of different services from something like a Raspberry Pi, but more intensive applications will require a more traditional PC/server. If you have an old PC lying around, odds are it will be able to host much of what is on this list. And you can expand from there once you know what you need. But once again, this requires some technical knowledge and may cost money if you don’t have hardware lying around.
Self-hosting is great!
As you can see, there are so many self-hosted alternatives to popular cloud solutions that it is possible to reduce your reliance on cloud services like AWS.
You will feel especially happy when reports come out of a major service being down again, and your self-hosted alternative is operating just fine. It isn’t easy to get set up, but once you do, it is freeing. Self-hosting isn’t for everyone, but for those that value their security and privacy. Self-hosting is a vital step to giving you more control over your data.
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