Infrastructure
The Serenity Stack
We don't rent our power. We own it.
Your data lives on servers we control. Your automations run on infrastructure we administer. Your business doesn't depend on the goodwill of corporations who see you as the product.
"Can't stop the signal."
The Philosophy
Why Would Anyone Self-Host in 2025?
Because the 'convenience' of renting everything from Big Tech comes with costs that only show up when it's too late to leave.
Own the Ship
We don't rent our power from corporations who can change terms, raise prices, or shut us down. Every critical system runs on infrastructure we control.
No Backdoors
Your data lives on servers we administer. No Big Tech 'partners' with access. No advertising networks. No data brokers.
Portable by Design
Every tool we use is either open-source or has open-source alternatives. If any vendor goes hostile, we migrate. You're never trapped.
Right-Sized Infrastructure
We don't use AWS because everyone else does. We use tools that match the job. Most businesses don't need hyperscaler complexity - they need reliability.
The Stack
What's Actually Running Under the Hood?
No proprietary magic. Just solid, proven tools that we control.
Layer 1
Edge & Security
Global CDN, DDoS protection, WAF, and SSL. Your traffic is protected before it ever reaches our servers.
No single point of failure. Attack traffic is absorbed at the edge, not at your doorstep.
Layer 2
Compute & Hosting
Dedicated VPS infrastructure in European and US data centers. Real servers, not shared containers.
German engineering, GDPR-compliant by default, no hyperscaler lock-in, and 1/10th the cost of AWS.
Layer 3
Database & Auth
Open-source Firebase alternative. PostgreSQL database, authentication, and real-time subscriptions.
Self-hostable. If Supabase disappeared tomorrow, we could spin up our own instance. Try that with Firebase.
Layer 4
Automation & Workflows
Self-hosted workflow automation. The integrations that make everything talk to everything else.
No per-task pricing. No rate limits. Your automations, your servers, your rules.
Layer 5
AI & Language Models
Claude, GPT-4, Gemini, and local models depending on the task. We use the right tool, not the trendy one.
No single AI vendor lock-in. When the next model leap happens, we switch in hours, not months.
Layer 6
Monitoring & Observability
Privacy-respecting analytics. No Google Analytics. No tracking pixels that follow your customers around the internet.
Your visitors' data stays yours. No third-party ad networks building profiles on your customers.
The Difference
Big Tech vs. The Serenity Stack
What you give up when you rent everything from companies that don't answer to you.
| Aspect | Big Tech (AWS, Google, etc.) | The Serenity Stack |
|---|---|---|
| Data Ownership | They own it. Read the ToS. | You own it. Full stop. |
| Pricing | Scales with your success (against you) | Predictable monthly costs |
| Vendor Lock-in | Proprietary formats, migration hell | Open standards, portable data |
| Privacy | Your customers are the product | Your customers are just customers |
| Uptime Dependency | When AWS goes down, the internet goes down | Distributed, no single point of failure |
| Support | Ticket #4,847,291 in queue | Humans who know your setup |
What This Means For You
When You Work With Us, You Get:
Full Documentation
Every system we build comes with documentation. If we get hit by a bus, your next team can pick up where we left off.
Your Credentials
You own all accounts, domains, and access credentials. We're administrators, not gatekeepers.
Exit Strategy
Every engagement includes a transition plan. No hostage situations. No "it'll cost you $50k to leave."
Common Questions
But Wait...
"Isn't self-hosting more expensive?"
For a solo developer, maybe. For a business? Rarely. A $50/month Hetzner VPS can do what costs $500/month on AWS. The math changes when you stop paying per-request fees to five different SaaS products.
"What about uptime and reliability?"
Cloudflare has better uptime than your internal IT department. Hetzner's SLA is 99.9%. The "big cloud is more reliable" myth comes from comparing enterprise setups to poorly configured hobby servers - not to properly architected independent infrastructure.
"Don't I need a team to manage all this?"
That's what we're for. You don't need to hire a DevOps team. You hire us to build it, document it, and hand you the keys. If you want ongoing management, that's available too - but you're never locked in.
"Is this just for tech companies?"
No. We've built Serenity Stacks for law firms, real estate developers, local service businesses, and B2B startups. If you use software to run your business - and you do - the question is who controls that software.
For the Browncoats among you:
"You got a ship. A good ship. She'll take you anywhere you wanna go."
- We build the ship. You fly it where you want.
Ready to own your infrastructure?
We'll audit your current setup, show you what you're paying for that you don't need, and build you something that actually belongs to you.