Software switching guide
The Costs to Plan for Before Self-Hosting
Self-hosting means taking responsibility for the service as well as using the application. A license with no purchase price does not remove the need for equipment, administration and recovery planning.
List recurring resources
Estimate storage, memory, processing needs and network traffic for your expected workload. Include backup storage and a second place to keep recovery copies. If you already own hardware, account for power, replacement and the time spent keeping it available.
Assign maintenance responsibility
Decide who handles updates, accounts, monitoring and restore tests. Write down how urgent issues will be noticed. Check the project documentation for upgrade procedures before committing, especially if the service holds shared work that others rely on.
Compare the whole arrangement
Compare a managed service and a self-hosted setup using the same workload and recovery expectations. Include your time, support needs and downtime tolerance. Start with a small test installation using non-sensitive sample data before migrating important records.