What is self-hosting?¶
Self-hosting means the person or organisation operating the service manages the underlying software or server environment rather than relying entirely on a managed website platform.
The infrastructure might be a VPS, dedicated server, home computer, business server, network-attached storage device or cloud virtual machine.
What may be found on the system¶
Potential evidence includes:
- website files and databases;
- access and application logs;
- administrator accounts;
- configuration;
- credentials;
- backups; and
- links to other services.
Provider evidence still matters¶
Self-hosting does not mean there are no external providers. A cloud company, VPS provider, ISP, registrar, DNS provider or tunnelling service may still hold important records.
It also does not prove who personally operated the system. Employees, contractors and shared administrators may have access. The system may be compromised or controlled remotely.
Key takeaway
Identify both the server environment and the external services supporting it, then link administration and activity to the responsible person.