Distributed Infrastructure: VPS, Docker, and Cloudflare Tunnels
How I organized my labs using a modern, secure, and low-cost infrastructure with Docker and Cloudflare tunnels.
After 30 years in technology, the way we launch services has changed drastically. Today, my Homelab and my VPSs are no longer “servers” in the classic sense, but an orchestra of secure containers and tunnels.
Docker: The Necessary Isolation
Running multiple projects (n8n, Baserow, Astro sites, bots) on the same machine without Docker would be a dependency nightmare. Using containers allows me to test new tools and discard them without “dirtying” the base operating system (Fedora Silverblue in my case).
Each project has its own docker-compose.yml, ensuring the configuration is versionable and easily replicable if I need to switch VPS.
Total Security with Cloudflare Tunnels
The big game changer recently was Cloudflare Tunnels. Previously, we needed to open ports on the router or VPS firewall (such as 80 or 443). With tunnels:
- The server establishes an outbound connection with Cloudflare.
- No inbound ports are exposed to the public internet.
- Brute force attacks and port scans are blocked at the edge.
This brings immense peace of mind to those running experimental labs.
The Priceless Learning
Setting up this distributed infrastructure taught me that the financial cost can be low (cheap VPS and free tools), but the value of learning is high. Understanding the flow of data from the container to the Cloudflare reverse proxy is what separates a senior analyst from a true Systems Builder.
Infrastructure now serves my purpose of building, and not the other way around.