Is there room for Windows selfhosters?
2026-06-14 10:57 UTC
Replies (40)
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@Shimitar@downonthestreet.eu 2026-06-14 15:26
Now, let me be polemical here … (And this is to be read with a pinch of /s) Selfhosting on windows and understanding what you do is so much better than selfhost on CasaOS/ZimaOS/FancyWebGui/Synology and just spin up containers randomly without even understand what a container is and how it does work at all … Now roast me :)
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@arcine@jlai.lu 2026-06-14 11:49
Sure ! But… How !? I don’t have even the first idea how you’d host… Almost anything on Windows 😅 and I would be concerned by the power consumption of any non-minimalist OS.
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@InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 2026-06-15 05:16
I don’t see why not.
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@falynns@lemmy.world 2026-06-15 05:19
Sure, but know you’re doing things the hard way. I started with Win 10, WSL, and Docker Desktop but moving to Linux made things 10x easier, Windows is… difficult.
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@mvirts@lemmy.world 2026-06-16 04:18
Windows hacking is just as fun as anything else, sometimes it’s even more rewarding just because you made it work on windows! My favorite is replacing the windows shell… Haven’t done that since 7 though :(
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@phoenixz@lemmy.ca 2026-06-15 13:39
Well yeah but… Why would you? It’s unnecessarily making things hard on yourself for so many reasons. My Linux computer is like a giant basket of free Legos and I can build whatever the hell I want easily
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@Shimitar@downonthestreet.eu 2026-06-14 11:02
I don’t think that Linux is in the title or description of this community! You pick your own poison … Mine is Gentoo Linux all the way, yours is Windows. Find two more selfhosters and they will criticize both of us! We are kind of the two extreme of the spectrum… Welcome!
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@null@piefed.nullspace.lol 2026-06-14 12:53
Yes, masochists are welcome.
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@BartyDeCanter@piefed.social 2026-06-14 15:38
Sure, if that’s what you want to do. Though, you’ll probably find less references and expertise here. There is a reason that even Microsoft runs Linux on most of its own servers.
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@lemming741@lemmy.world 2026-06-14 20:44
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@ikidd@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-06-15 01:07
Well, if masochism is your kink...
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@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2026-06-14 16:43
I wouldn't recommend it personally
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@Mordikan@kbin.earth 2026-06-14 20:18
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@irmadlad@lemmy.world 2026-06-14 14:01
>Are posts about that welcome here? Absolutely. The gate's open...come on in. It's been quite a while since I've had a Windows based server. I still run Windows 10 in the lab, plus Linux and Mac. I don't really discriminate. All OS's have their place imho. >So far its a blast! That is one of the prime directives of selfhosting. I have a ton of fun learning about new stuff to do and how to do it. Tell us all about it man. What do you selfhost? Are you running any Docker containers? I'm all ears, which in reality isn't too far from the truth with my Jumbo ears. Share! Share!
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@mereo@piefed.ca 2026-06-14 12:33
Temporary becomes permanent. When I was experiencing severe long-term symptoms of Covid, I bought a refurbished computer to use as a NAS with Jellyfin, Sonarr, and indexers. I kept the installed Windows 10 because I simply did not have the energy to do more. Then, when I felt better, I told myself, "Let me add more services." Now, it's a Frankenstein computer where Windows 10 acts as the hypervisor, running Caddy as my reverse proxy. Crowdsec protects my services, and my Flint 2's firewall acts as the Crowdsec bouncer. A VirtualBox VM runs in Windows 10 and hosts most of my Docker containers. Stablebits DrivePool manages my drive pool. I've been running this setup for over a year, and I haven't had any issues. I know I should switch to Linux, but since it's been working great and I'm busy, I've been procrastinating.
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@Kirk@startrek.website 2026-06-14 13:19
Posts about self hosting are welcome, posts to strangers seeking external validation...? Maybe save for therapy.
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@NastyNative@mander.xyz 2026-06-14 17:56
Tell us what you are hosting! Tell us now! Lol
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@slazer2au@lemmy.world 2026-06-14 10:58
Sure are. I started self hosting with a VM on Hyper-V.
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@Egonallanon@feddit.uk 2026-06-14 12:07
Always. Started on windows hypervisors and windows as they were relevant to my work and I was trying to skill up at the time. Since moved to a Linux stack as the lab grew in scope and my distaste for MS grew as well.
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@tehBishop@sh.itjust.works 2026-06-14 11:35
Linux is favored because the ecosystem is more open but you can also run it on low power devices which isn't really the case with Windows (and getting worse over time) and it's free with Windows, to be legal, you need to license the cores/VM. Now does anyone actually do that?! I wouldn't think so.
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@Alvaro@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2026-06-15 03:33
Most self-hosted solutions come as containers, containers are Linux only and on Windows they run under the WSL VM, so eventually (if you are not doing full installs) you are still using Linux
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@clifmo@programming.dev 2026-06-15 16:49
Welcome sure, but few and far between. Check out JimsGarage on YouTube. He does a lot of windows selfhosting content
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@SGG@lemmy.world 2026-06-15 01:47
I would recommend at most ruining windows as the hypervisor then running Linux virtual machines. Maybe run a windows VM if you have a specific need. This is mainly because Linux is much better "supported" for the majority of self hosted projects. But you can of course do whatever you want.
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@PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca 2026-06-14 15:21
Hey! I started running a home server on Windows 10. It was a great easy way to get started. The only problem for me that I found with time was that Windows updates would take everything that I was running offline, which was a nuisance to log back in and open everything up. You may find you gradually move towards Linux :P
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@sonalder@lemmy.ml 2026-06-15 07:51
One step at a time, you will eventually move to GNU/Linux in the future if this new hobby persist. But there is nothing wrong with beginning using software and tools you are already familiar with. However you will probably have to use WSL (Linux inside Windows basically) to make things work and all guides you will find will mostly be based on Docker and/or Linux. So you will definitely use Linux on your Microslop owned machine. If you don't have the time to learn a new OS it's fine, but it will not necessarly make things easier, especially on the long run. That's my take on it. My very first self-hosting homelab was a Linux Mint old refurbished desktop PC that I was remotely accessing through AnyDesk (I was a Windows kid user at that time). Now I'm on NixOS through SSH and still learning, I do not completely comfortable but I am able to use it and learn while doing so. I would highly encourage you to try to run a lightweight beginer friendly Linux distro such as debian, Linux Mint XFCE or Kubuntu if you feel like you need a desktop environement and graphic user interfaces but if you really want to use that Microslop license you bought it's fine, you will probably switch in the following months or years. Okay maybe not, some people are fine using it. You can also take a look at stuff like runtipi, yunohost, CasaOS, ZimaOS, Umbrel, Cloudron and stuff like that. They aim to be beginner friendly self-hosting "OS" or "WebUI".
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@popekingjoe@lemmy.world 2026-06-14 11:09
My homelab is a mishmash of Windows and Linux machines. The primary game server is Windows and the rest others are Linux.
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@billwashere@lemmy.world 2026-06-14 13:00
I’m not a windows hater per se, but I am for using the best tool for the job. And in my opinion windows is not the best tool for self hosting. There are things windows does work well for that meshes well with self hosting and that’s docker. Honestly I’d focus on that for a lot of reasons but primarily because it’s a very easy to deploy self contained way to provide services. And the differences between docker on windows and Linux is almost negligible.
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@51dusty@lemmy.world 2026-06-14 15:04
I self hosted windows for many years, mostly because that is what I used at work. I liked it because it hid some of the low level details and worked *most* of the time. The thing that finally made me switch was the exorbitant cost of licenses and the need to run services on older hardware. DM me if you want some keys. I have a few copies of win10 and winIOT laying around that I'm not going to use.
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@AlfalFaFail@lemmy.ml 2026-06-15 15:39
I self host on windows. It just happened to be what I had on the box. Then I got started with docker. So that was great. When I have the time, I hope to switch to unraid, but need the time to be open enough to deal with the problem that will arise in getting the system set up just right.
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@s38b35M5@lemmy.world 2026-06-14 12:28
Many of us started running Windows Server and endpoints, but in my case, the cost and substandard tools turned me away. I was running A DLNA server and using WDS (yes, very overkill for home, but fun to learn for work), but then I found TrueNAS (then called FreeNAS) running on BSD. I now run a simple share from there and Kodi on my (Linux and Android) user endpoints. I don't bother with imaging anymore, and use `dd` for backups to my NAS. My Firewall runs OPNSense (BSD) and I run OpenWRT on two TrendNet WAPs. I'll never go back to MS. It's just not a welcoming platform from my perspective. Don't even get me started on .NET or the various and sundry "redistributables" constantly required by every tool you try to use.
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@Jayb151@lemmy.world 2026-06-14 15:07
They better be! I've got a mix of proxmox running Windows and Linux machines, as well as a bare metal Windows machine for streaming gaming, as wells as Linux laptops to access all this. ... My only shame is using Windows server to host my DHCP server.
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@cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-06-14 12:26
I self-hosted Plex and Jellyfin on Windows. It's fine. But as others have said, Windows machines tend to be too power-hungry. Honestly I think that's more a symptom of x86-64. Changing the OS from Windows to Linux does not magically change the power needs of the hardware. (However, Linux tends to demand less of the hardware, especially if there's no GUI.) I now self-host Plex on a Mac mini (M2 Pro, 16GB RAM/512GB SSD). M2 Pro in Intel speak is like i5 as in, it's the "next one up" and "good enough for most people" but not the low entry into the platform (M# base or i3), though I'd say M4/M5 base is better than M2 Pro. Just like going 2-3 generations newer, the i3 gets closer to and may surpass an older i5. There's a reason self-hosters prefer Linux, but I'd think it would be more about the hardware than the software. Windows is problematic because you're opening ports and Windows is a target due to its massive market share. Mac is kinda (/sorta /not really) UNIX based, and Linux is, well, it's Linux; neither is bulletproof, but both are better than Windows because they're not really being targeted. That said, the MacBook Neo and Mac Mini going for $500 if you're a student, $600 otherwise is getting a lot of people sick of Microslop's BS to switch, and the Neo in particular is forcing the PC market to get competitive as macOS market share is rising — this also makes it more of a target. You're always at some risk online and a little common sense goes a long way.
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@a_postmodern_hat@lemmy.world 2026-06-15 18:42
100% there is room for Windows self hosters. Welcome. May your self hosting be productive, secure and fun.
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@GalacticSushi@piefed.blahaj.zone 2026-06-14 13:02
You will not find many people who willingly work with Windows servers, there is a reason for this. That being said, one point of self hosting is that you can do everything the way you want. So you do you.
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@gblues@lemmy.zip 2026-06-15 14:49
I guess everyone is welcome, from windows to people doing it on OSes they made themselves!
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@keyez@lemmy.world 2026-06-15 13:06
I started out self hosting with windows server 2012 because my school was a Microsoft and Cisco partner but mostly ran Linux VMs on it using hardware raid. Ran bitwarden, Plex and a wiki plus a VM with a bunch of docker containers. Ran that for about 3 years and now have been on Unraid for 6 or so years and loving it.
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@early_riser@lemmy.world 2026-06-16 13:52
Are you hosting on win server? I'm genuinely curious, not trying to shill Linux though I prefer it on the server side, believe me I've been on the receiving end of that for desktop Linux. How do you manage it? Do you have your home LAN set up as an active directory domain? Do you use mostly Powershell or the GUI? What do you have running on it? It just seems like everything on the server side assumes you're using Linux and the only stuff that runs on Win server is stuff made by Microsoft like MS SQL server or IIS.
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@talkingpumpkin@lemmy.world 2026-06-14 14:32
Sure thing! (also, please do post about it when you eventually decide to switch to linux)
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@wltr@discuss.tchncs.de 2026-06-14 12:19
While I have no respect for Windows people, it’s interesting to read through their failures. Yeah, do Windows instead of spending bits of your time to make an effort at learning something new. I mean it, in a non-sarcastic way. You can start with Windows, and if you won’t give up on this hobby, I bet you’d come to some open source system instead at some point. After all, the entire self-hosting point is not in ditching Windows, but ditching proprietary thing corporations lure people to use, to farm their data and money too. And attention, not the least thing. It’s just that Windows is precisely the very thing a self-hoster would despise. Having one to boot into ‘launch that game’ mode makes sense to some, but running it to run some services 24/7, makes little sense, if at all.
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@Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyz 2026-06-14 12:30
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread: Fewer Letters | More Letters ---|--- DHCP | Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, automates assignment of IPs when connecting to a network ESXi | VMWare virtual machine hypervisor NAS | Network-Attached Storage Plex | Brand of media server package SSD | Solid State Drive mass storage SSH | Secure Shell for remote terminal access ---------------- [Thread #12 for this comm, first seen 14th Jun 2026, 12:30] [[FAQ](http://decronym.xyz/)] [[Full list](http://decronym.xyz/acronyms/selfhosted@lemmy_world)] [[Contact](https://hachyderm.io/@Two9A)] [[Source code](https://gist.github.com/Two9A/1d976f9b7441694162c8)]