Need a bit clarification (complete noob) reddit / selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AbdulmalekA · 2023-11-05 14:03 Hello , First of all I am new to self hosting thing . and Iam confused about couples things : 1 - what's is the benefit of ddns (duckdns) for example , since I own a domain and iam hosting my server on local ip (rpi4) 192.168.20.20 , does the whole purpose of ddns to ping my public ip 51.39.33 ? And the only time the server is down when my router sign different local ip address? Did I use ddns wrong or what the hell I'm doing !! ( I use Cloudflare tunnel to access my server outside my network ) 2 - what the best way to connect to my server from outside my network without requiring to open ports since my ISP won't let me open any . ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Brandon10695 · 2023-11-05 14:58 Most commercial ISP offerings don’t provide a static public IP address, this can be a problem when publishing applications on the internet as you likely wont know your public IP has changed until you attempt to connect to your application externally and it fails. DDNS solves this problem by constantly checking your current public IP address and updating any DNS records you have pointing towards your routers external interface, eliminating the need for a static IP. As for exposing applications without opening ports, I’d highly recommend looking into Cloudflare Tunnels which are a part of their free tier subscription. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TheLazyGamerAU · 2023-11-05 15:02 OP if that is your actual IP or even part of it id highly suggest removing it from your post. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AbdulmalekA · 2023-11-05 15:12 It's not my actual ip's ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AbdulmalekA · 2023-11-05 15:13 Do you host applications on your public ip or local ip ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Carmikl · 2023-11-05 15:22 So for me I mainly use ddns for TLS certificates on my self hosted websites and when I want to access stuff remotely I use tailscale the free offers a lot of features enough for personal use ---------------------------------------------------------------------- brody5895 · 2023-11-05 17:37 In your router settings, assign a static private IP for each system so they don't change (the 192.168.x.x ones). Then you can either put your public IP in the tunnel/DNS settings and change it any time your ISP gives you a new public IP, which can get annoying since it happens without notice at random intervals, or you can use a DDNS service which will sit on your computer updating the DDNS server any time your public IP changes. If you do it that way, you then put the link provided by your DDNS provider into the tunnel/DNS settings. I'm fairly new to this stuff and it took me a while to get what little grasp I have, don't let the confusion get to you. This stuff is all set up in a way that makes a million things possible so there's a lot of weird conventions that don't work the way you would initially think. I use ChatGPT a lot for this kind of stuff. It obviously has its limitations but I find you can use it to find out if you're asking the right questions or if your internal model of how this stuff works is close. You're on the right track, keep up the hard work, it's so worth it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Brandon10695 · 2023-11-05 18:09 That is a bit of a misleading question as the application would be physically hosted on a private IP and accessed via your public IP. I’d suggest you do a bit of reading up on NAT and port forwarding which should help you on your way ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Impressive-Self9135 · 2023-11-05 19:28 For question obe I have no idea but for two, you can check out Cloudfare Tunnel or Tailscale. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PowerfulAttorney3780 · 2023-11-06 01:02 You mentioned Cloudflare tunnels in your post, that's exactly what you need in order to not open up any ports to your router. You do need to own your own domain though as opposed to using a free DDNS service. Then you have an agent on your computer that basically tunnels through your firewall and ports and everything without needing open it and it allows you to connect through the cloud flare tunnel.