My server did not begin as a server. It was my old gaming PC with an Intel i5-7400 and 16 GB of DDR4 memory. The machine was no longer my main computer, but it was still perfectly capable, so I installed Ubuntu Server 24.04 and gave it a second life.
At first it was mostly a hobby. I wanted to learn what happens after an application works on a laptop: how it starts again after a reboot, how services find one another, where their data lives, and what I should do when something fails at night.
A small place of my own on the internet
Docker became the centre of the setup. Each service has its own container and configuration, while persistent volumes keep the data outside the life of a single container. I run my own private file cloud there - my personal alternative to Google Drive - along with website services and the backend for Market Atlas.
Market Atlas made the machine feel less like a laboratory and more like infrastructure I genuinely depend on. Its Java service, caches, and saved data all run there, and the public website can reach it without exposing the rest of the home network.
Why I keep it
Self-hosting is not free just because there is no monthly server bill. The machine needs electricity, updates, monitoring, backups, and occasional patience. But it gives me something a managed dashboard cannot: a reason to understand the complete path from code to a service that stays available.
The server is becoming more important with every project. I like the idea that it can be a 24/7 home for a future AI agent - somewhere Batyr AI can run, use the tools I allow, and remain under my control. For now, the old gaming PC keeps doing its job quietly, which is exactly what I want from it.