Abhishek Kumar Mishra writes about how he turned a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W into a home server running DietPi, Docker, and Tailscale, replacing a $50-a-month cloud setup with a $15 board. He runs four Docker containers—BentoPDF, OmniTools, Vaultwarden, and Pi-Hole—that handle PDF editing, file conversion, password management, and ad blocking respectively.
- DietPi uses only ~70 MB of RAM at baseline, compared to ~100 MB for Raspberry Pi OS Lite and ~140 MB for Armbian.
- Tailscale was deployed system-wide (not in a container) to provide HTTPS, which Vaultwarden's Docker image mandates before it will start.
- The Pi Zero 2 W has a quad-core 1 GHz Cortex-A53 and 512 MB RAM, leaving roughly 415 MB usable after OS and Docker overhead.
- He migrated from LastPass to Vaultwarden in one night and pairs it with automated backup exports to external drives.
- DietPi uses only ~70 MB of RAM at baseline, compared to ~100 MB for Raspberry Pi OS Lite and ~140 MB for Armbian.
- Tailscale was deployed system-wide (not in a container) to provide HTTPS, which Vaultwarden's Docker image mandates before it will start.
- The Pi Zero 2 W has a quad-core 1 GHz Cortex-A53 and 512 MB RAM, leaving roughly 415 MB usable after OS and Docker overhead.
- He migrated from LastPass to Vaultwarden in one night and pairs it with automated backup exports to external drives.
This article details seven Docker containers – Nextcloud, Vaultwarden, Homepage, Firefly III, Excalidraw, Code-server, and Docmost – and how they are used to enhance personal and professional productivity. It focuses on self-hosting and streamlining workflows.
