When I started self-hosting, it was for work. I wanted to understand the concepts and services available in order to write about them, which meant that I focused on services for articles I was writing at first.

However, one service changed that. Not only did it convince me to start self-hosting non-work-related services, but it also motivated me to bring my old NAS out of storage and start using it as my own mini home lab. That tool was Immich, the Google Photos alternative for image and video backups.

How Immich motivated me to start self-hosting

Powerful features with a simple setup process

I initially set up Immich as an experiment. I mostly wanted to see what the service was like. After uploading an album consisting of pictures from a trip to Ireland, I was really impressed by what Immich offered.

First of all, the setup was relatively simple thanks to the detailed documentation from Immich's developers and community. This meant that I was able to get it working easily despite it being one of the first multi-container services I had ever used.

I tested whether Immich could replicate my favorite Google Photos features and was surprised by just how much it could do. In fact, the only feature I really missed was the ability to recognize specific pets. In Google Photos, the software recognizes my two cats, Loxi and Black Velvet.

But it has plenty of other handy features, such as the ability to recognize faces, save favorites, sort images into albums, and search your images using keywords. It even has a locked folder feature and the ability to share albums with others.

Thanks to its mobile apps, you can also easily back up media from your smartphone, making it extremely convenient to use. Immich was the first service that made me realize that just because something is self-hosted, it doesn't mean it is an inferior or unintuitive product.

What you need to get started with Immich

A device with 4GB RAM and Docker

You don't need much to get started with Immich. I started using it on my main PC and eventually moved it over to my Synology NAS.

The recommended setup method is Docker Compose. But the documentation also includes guides for Kubernetes, Portainer, Unraid, specific cloud services, TrueNAS, and Synology.

In terms of hardware specs, the developers recommend a minimum of 4GB RAM and a 2-core CPU. I have successfully used it on a NAS with 2GB RAM, but this does affect the container's stability and processing time.

Once you have it up and running, you can access the app using your server's IP address and port, register a new admin account, and adjust any settings you want for backup and storage options.

The downsides of self-hosting image backups

It takes more work

I'd love to say that once I started using Immich, I ditched Google Photos and never looked back. But when you self-host any media backup and storage solution, you take on a lot of responsibility over your data.

This means that you first have to ensure that your solution is reliable before switching over. You also have to make sure that you follow the 3-2-1 backup rule so that you protect yourself against data loss. You can't rely on a single device and a single instance of files, since a variety of issues could compromise these backups. This includes an update breaking the service.

Since I haven't sorted out an off-site backup, I'm still reliant on Google One. Right now, it's the most cost-effective solution for me for my most important files and documents. I do plan to eventually move away from the subscription and use a more privacy-focused cloud provider, but that will take time.

In order to make my setup more reliable, I also need to invest in more powerful hardware. Because of my NAS's limited resources, Immich does run into issues when processing certain files. This means that I do deal with the occasional downtime and unforeseen issues.

If you have more powerful hardware, you should encounter these issues less often. But you will still have to do more troubleshooting and manual configuration than you would when compared to a hosted solution with customer support.

I'm glad Immich inspired me to self-host more tools

Since starting with Immich, I've tried out plenty more tools. I've even figured out how to use a Cloudflare Tunnel to access certain containers from outside my home network, though I limit this to only two services.

While Immich inspired me to start self-hosting in a personal capacity, the great tools I've encountered over the last few months have convinced me to keep doing it — even with the challenges I encounter due to no coding experience. I hope that in the next year I can upgrade to better hardware so that there are fewer barriers standing in my way.