A question about how the back end works
from WamGams@lemmy.ca to fediverse@lemmy.world on 19 Jan 04:38
https://lemmy.ca/post/37460911

Hey all,

Just a quick question for everybody, sorry if it is stupid. I have been on the Fediverse since the blackouts I probably should know this by now, but have clearly let things pass me by.

Basically, I want to buy a raspberry pi or a mini PC to run as a server. I would buy a domain name and use the website as sort of a private portal that I would do my posts from. I could upload videos to loops or a picture to pixelfed, make a microblog for Mastodon or have a long form blog.

My idea is that I would be the only person on the server and if somebody were to go to the url itself all they would see is the posts themselves in chronological form, but I would really not be wanting people to experience the site itself but rather the fediverse posts on their individual apps. The post having come from the site would rather be the authenticator that it is me who posted it.

Is something like this possible or would I essentially need multiple servers and domain names for each individual fediverse service?

#fediverse

threaded - newest

originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com on 19 Jan 05:10 next collapse

its technically feasible, even with a single domain and just running multiple hosts off a single box... but it gets very complex. many of these products are designed for multi-user. its not a 'set it and forget it' process. its a constant battle keeping a lot of these systems running, let alone on a single box with a highly configured single-user use in mind.

mastondon/microblog products its fairly easy.. the threadiverse products require a ton more resources and connectivity.

good luck.

WamGams@lemmy.ca on 19 Jan 07:09 collapse

Any specific things you think I should prioritize first and then build out from?

I do like the idea of a federated passport essentially, where your subdomain acts as verification it is you.

slazer2au@lemmy.world on 19 Jan 08:44 collapse

Look up how to run Linux and docker containers. LearnLinuxTV on YouTube is an amazing start.
Data backup is super important.

Come join us over at !selfhosted@lemmy.world and !selfhost@lemmy.ml

catloaf@lemm.ee on 19 Jan 05:36 next collapse

Yes, you will need multiple servers and domains… but you can host them on one physical device, and put them as subdomains on one purchased domain, e.g lemmy.wamgans.com, mastodon.wamgams.com, and so on.

WamGams@lemmy.ca on 19 Jan 08:14 collapse

Thank you for this.

Any particular tutorials you recommend for setting up a first fediverse server?

BlueEther@no.lastname.nz on 19 Jan 06:47 next collapse

You can use a single domain and subdomains for each service. Once you start to host multi-services you will need more and more compute power and storage.

WamGams@lemmy.ca on 19 Jan 07:07 collapse

Thanks for the response. Realistically what am I looking at if I want to do a weekly blog post, and then mostly only posting comments on the various service?

I figure if it is possible to have the actual website not publicly visible, sort of like everything is behind a paywall, but everything behind that pay wall still gets posted to the various services, this just preventing website traffic.

BlueEther@no.lastname.nz on 19 Jan 07:14 collapse

I wouldn’t worry about ‘website traffic’ if you are using federated services: there is a shit ton of chatter back and forth between servers.

You could put the UI behind a simple password page but you will have to leave all the API urls open.

It takes time and effort to keep ALL the services update (as well as the host OS). So much so that I have actually taken down my wordpress blog

WamGams@lemmy.ca on 19 Jan 08:12 collapse

Thank you.

This has been a lot of help.

Jumuta@sh.itjust.works on 19 Jan 16:40 next collapse

It would work but I personally don’t think hosting a personal instance for the fediverse is that practical/safe given how dumb and harsh laws can be, when you don’t have an army of lawyers/strong public support

I really like the EFF’s article on this

WamGams@lemmy.ca on 20 Jan 02:08 collapse

Thank you for this article.

However, if i am the only person on my instance and I am blocking federation from known bad actors, I should theoretically be protected.

jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world on 19 Jan 19:53 collapse

I’ll show you how that back end works!

<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/ae835d91-d2dc-4774-8588-3f680167d060.gif">

(I have no idea and hope you get the info you want)