Self-Hosted Main

Hello r/selfhosted community!

I'm currently delving into the world of self-hosting and would love to get your insights on a couple of concepts I'm exploring. Your experiences and opinions would be incredibly valuable to me.

1. App Management Philosophy: I'm torn between two approaches to app management in a self-hosted setup. On one hand, there's the Unix philosophy of "doing one thing well" which would involve using multiple apps, each dedicated to a specific function (like Homebox, Ghostfolio, Mealie, Firefly, Plane, etc.). This approach, however, seems to increase the attack surface and complexity. On the other hand, there's the idea of hacking a single tool (like NocoDB combined with Metabase/Superset) to cover multiple needs, which could simplify monitoring and management. What are your thoughts on these approaches in terms of security, maintenance, and overall efficiency?
2. Database Strategy: Another area I'm seeking advice on is database management. I'm considering two options:

• Having a separate PostgreSQL database for each service within its Docker-compose declaration.
• Allocating a separate VM solely for databases (like PostgreSQL, MariaDB, etc.) and creating different users for each service.
• What are the pros and cons of these strategies from your experience, especially in terms of performance, security, and ease of management?

I'm really looking forward to hearing your thoughts and learning from your experiences. Thank you in advance for sharing your ideas!