First backend on a rented VPS
Two Hetzner servers, keys-only SSH and an admin console behind Zero Trust, ten months before the cluster.
FromSelf-Hosted Platform: k3s on HetznerThe backend for the e-ink desk device started on two Hetzner Cloud servers: one ran Appwrite in Docker, the other served the Flutter web app from nginx, with Cloudflare in front for DNS.
The setup notes are a short hardening list: a named sudo user, SSH keys only, root login and passwords off, fail2ban. The Appwrite console went behind Cloudflare Zero Trust, open to one IP address and a one-time code, and a plain redirect page catches anyone who lands on a blocked URL.
Everything was done by hand over SSH, and the notes were the only record. Ten months later the k3s cluster started on the same provider, with a repository as the record instead.
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