Build Log

Added LiteLLM as an API gateway in front of all our language models. One endpoint, multiple providers. Route requests to local Ollama models or external APIs through the same interface. PostgreSQL backend tracks usage and costs. Swap models without changing a single line of application code.

Started running large language models locally with Ollama. No API costs, no data leaving the network. Pull a model, run it, done. Paired it with Open WebUI for a clean chat interface. The same tools the big platforms charge for, running on our own hardware.

Deployed Uptime Kuma to monitor every service. If a container goes down, we know within 60 seconds. Dashboard shows uptime history, response times, and SSL cert expiration. No excuse for a service being down and nobody noticing.

Connected everything with Tailscale. The server, the NAS, the workstation, the phone. Encrypted mesh network, no port forwarding, no exposed services. Access any tool from anywhere like you are sitting on the same LAN. Changed the way we work.

Put Caddy in front of everything as the reverse proxy. Automatic TLS certificates, clean subdomain routing, zero manual cert management. Every internal service gets its own address. One config file controls all the traffic.

Every service gets its own Docker Compose stack. Isolated networks, named volumes, environment files. No package conflicts, no dependency drift. Need to tear something down? One command. Need to rebuild? Same command. 29 containers running and the server barely notices.

Added a Synology NAS as the storage layer. Backups, media, shared volumes. The server handles compute, the NAS handles data. Two machines, clear separation of concerns. If the server dies, the data survives.

Set up a dedicated Ubuntu server as the backbone for everything we build. One box, clean install, SSH access, nothing else. Every service runs in its own container. The server does one job: host Docker and stay out of the way.