On the free plan, you should be able to set up 2 remediation components, 4 blocklists, and a variety of scenarios. For the scenarios, I'd only install what you have need for.
As far as logs, I personally think something more along the lines of Grafana+Loki+Alloy (Formerly Prometheus) for logs and metrics. You could even use something like lnav. Lnav is simple to install. It's not a dialed out dashboard of metrics, rather it keeps things simple. After install, to access it simply type lnav and the log location you wish to view: lnav /var/log/auth.log or lnav /var/log/syslog in the cli. Don't let it's simplicity fool you tho. It is quite capable.
I really tried with logging aps like ELK, Graylog, etc. I found them to be quite heavy for my environment. They certainly do have all the bells and whistles and pretty graphics, but again, it comes down to what can run on your server comfortably. I didn't want to eat up 2/3 of my resources just to look at logs. The Grafana+Loki+Alloy combo really sips the resources. I think for all I have Grafana monitoring, it clocks in at around 2+/- gb in used resources.
I hear you Mr Audiophile. Thing is, all that space it takes to house a grand collection, when it all now fits on two 10TB drives filled with high res flac. I can't tell a difference. Not saying there isn't one, just saying I can't hear it. So, for me, it works out perfect.
0K that's cool. I love docker. I would like to upgrade to k8s but I haven't yet plumbed the depths of docker. I was just with the overhead of docker, since Pi-Hole/Unbound is a dedicated system, I thought maybe it'd get better thru put baked in. I wouldn't listen to me tho, I'm medicated.
How well does that run in docker? I've always liked docker, but it seems to me that certain apps should touch metal than be containerized. Maybe I'm too old school.
Wow, I thought I had a large music collection. I mean, I can put the whole 80k on random and it will be months before I hear a repeat. 200k you'd hear a song and then maybe on your 80th birthday hear it repeat. LOL The larger majority of my songs are from Indie groups I used to promo.
My problem is that I cannot find a selfhosting solution that has the nuts to spool up 80k+ hi-res, original sourced, flac files that reside on two 10TB drives through my ancient technology. MusicBee is the closest thing I've come across, but that is local, and it struggles. I stay around the compound now days so local is ok, but it would be nice to stream out on the back porch without cranking my stereo to 11 so I can hear. I have bluetooth options but range is an issue.
As cool and neato as I find AI to be, I haven't really found a good use case for it in the selfhosting/homelabbing arena. Most of my equipment is ancient and lacking the GPU necessary to drive that bus.
But I know what the answer is and it’s not as exciting as I’d like it to be.
At least you would know, and you would learn something new as I have done. I have set up to monitor syslogs, ufw logs, assorted metrics so far. I'm going to tackle using cAdvisor and ingest the data into Prometheus and display such data on my Grafana dash.
It's fun and educational. Try it. At the very least when you've worn all the new off, you can just delete the docker containers.
I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I read up on it about an hour ago. Of course, just as I finally get things running, they switch horses. le sigh....c'est la vie
I have a follow up question about cadvisor, if you have a minute. Cadvisor employ Redis and Prometheus. If I understand correctly, you configure Prometheus to scrape Docker logs. All fine and good. However, my Grafana stack already employs Prometheus to do the same, just for syslogs and such, but not Docker. Can I not place the contents of the Cadvisor/Prometheus config in the existing Prometheus implementation used with Grafana, or does Cadvisor need it's own Prometheus instance.
It was like running windows. The more I fed it, the more it belched and devoured more. LOL Now I see that I am going to have to figure out Grafana Alloy, as Prom is nearing it's eol in '26. Le sigh.... that's the way it goes.
I digitally collect odd things, selfhosted in several apps depending on if it's for 'read later and decide' or preserve.. For one, I like the etymology of words or phrases and how they've evolved in meaning, and in some instances bastardized the meaning. For another, I collect political cartoons from any country. I am fascinated how some of the ones I've read about, have changed some people's minds. Things I find educational. Things that are totally polar opposite me. You'd be surprised what you learn even tho you may still remain opposed. So these are a back up of a backup which gets backed up, lol, It's the source files if you will, and I archive them in another app however I still keep the source as a backstop.
I'll end with this as an example since this might be misconstrued as not about selfhosting, As a wee lad, someone donated a set of Encyclopedia Britannica to us. I read those cover to cover many times. So, with the help of self hosting and dedicated devs around the globe, thank you so very much for being so generous with your skills and time, I can continue my quest to know.
I've heard of Docker, Incus, k8s, VM, but not Focker. Is this some new containerization software?