Developer Blog

Infrastructure, DNS & Routing

Practical articles on Traefik, Cloudflare, SSL and developer infrastructure patterns. Written by the DomainDock engineering team.

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Tutorial5 min readOctober 26, 2026

How to Deploy a Project on a VPS From Zero (With a Domain and HTTPS)

A practical walkthrough for deploying your project on your own server: pick a VPS, lock it down, run the app with Docker, open the right ports and put a real domain with HTTPS in front.

DomainDock Team

Engineering

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Domains5 min read

Free Domain Names in 2026: What's Actually Free and What's a Trap

Freenom is gone and most 'free domain' offers now come with a catch. Here are the free domain options that still work in 2026, what each one is good for and when it's worth paying $10 a year.

DomainDock Team

October 26, 2026

Self-Hosting4 min read

Run Your Own AI Chat on a VPS With Ollama and Open WebUI (and Give It a Domain)

Self-hosting a private ChatGPT-style app is easier than ever. Here's how to run Ollama and Open WebUI on your own server, put it on a real HTTPS address and avoid the mistake that leaves thousands of AI servers open to anyone.

DomainDock Team

October 26, 2026

SSL5 min read

SSL Certificates Are Shrinking to 47 Days. Here's What Changes for Your Site

The maximum SSL certificate lifetime dropped to 200 days in March 2026 and keeps falling to 47 days by 2029. Let's Encrypt is cutting its own certificates to 45 days. What that means if you still renew by hand.

DomainDock Team

October 26, 2026

Hosting5 min read

Web Hosting Explained in 2026: Shared, VPS, Cloud, Platforms and Bring Your Own Server

What a web host actually does, the five kinds of hosting you'll see in 2026, what each costs and which one fits your project. Plain answers, no affiliate links.

DomainDock Team

October 26, 2026

Monitoring5 min read

Website Down? What to Check First, in Order

Your site isn't loading. Before you restart everything, work through these checks from the outside in: DNS, the certificate, the network, the server and the app. Plus how to hear about the next outage before your users do.

DomainDock Team

October 26, 2026

Tutorial4 min read

How to Get a Free Domain for Your Developer Projects (No Credit Card Required)

Tired of sharing ugly deployment URLs with clients? Learn how to get a clean, memorable free domain for every project you ship, no credit card, no registrar fees.

DomainDock Team

May 28, 2026

Comparison6 min read

ngrok vs Cloudflare Tunnel vs DomainDock: Which One Should Developers Use in 2026?

Three tools, three very different use cases. We break down when ngrok, Cloudflare Tunnel and DomainDock each make sense, so you pick the right tool for the job.

DomainDock Team

May 26, 2026

Infrastructure5 min read

How to Host Multiple Apps on One VPS with Traefik and Custom Domains

A $6/month VPS can run a dozen projects simultaneously. Here's exactly how to set up Traefik as a reverse proxy and point clean custom domains at each one, with automatic SSL.

DomainDock Team

May 24, 2026

SSL5 min read

Wildcard SSL Certificates Explained: What They Are and How Developers Use Them

A wildcard SSL certificate covers every domain under a root with one certificate. Learn how they work, when to use them and how platforms like DomainDock use them to give every project instant HTTPS.

DomainDock Team

May 22, 2026

Tutorial4 min read

Deploy Your Side Project with a Custom Domain in Under 5 Minutes

From zero to a publicly accessible app with a clean custom domain and HTTPS, no domain registrar, no Cloudflare account, no SSL configuration. Here's the fastest path.

DomainDock Team

May 20, 2026

Development6 min read

Stop Using localhost: Why Custom Dev Domains Make You Ship Faster

localhost works until it doesn't. Testing OAuth flows, sharing previews, debugging mobile layouts, running webhooks: all of these break on localhost. Here's what to use instead.

DomainDock Team

May 18, 2026

DNS7 min read

DNS Records Explained for Developers: A, CNAME, TXT, MX and More

DNS is the phonebook of the internet, but most developers only know half of it. This guide covers every record type you'll encounter, with practical examples for each.

DomainDock Team

May 16, 2026

Infrastructure5 min read

The Indie Developer's Guide to Self-Hosting Everything on a Single VPS

SaaS fees add up fast. Here's how indie developers, freelancers and students can run their entire stack (apps, databases, monitoring and more) on a $6/month server with clean custom domains.

DomainDock Team

May 14, 2026

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Infrastructure, DNS & Routing

How to Deploy a Project on a VPS From Zero (With a Domain and HTTPS)

Free Domain Names in 2026: What's Actually Free and What's a Trap

Run Your Own AI Chat on a VPS With Ollama and Open WebUI (and Give It a Domain)

SSL Certificates Are Shrinking to 47 Days. Here's What Changes for Your Site

Web Hosting Explained in 2026: Shared, VPS, Cloud, Platforms and Bring Your Own Server

Website Down? What to Check First, in Order

How to Get a Free Domain for Your Developer Projects (No Credit Card Required)

ngrok vs Cloudflare Tunnel vs DomainDock: Which One Should Developers Use in 2026?

How to Host Multiple Apps on One VPS with Traefik and Custom Domains

Wildcard SSL Certificates Explained: What They Are and How Developers Use Them

Deploy Your Side Project with a Custom Domain in Under 5 Minutes

Stop Using localhost: Why Custom Dev Domains Make You Ship Faster

DNS Records Explained for Developers: A, CNAME, TXT, MX and More

The Indie Developer's Guide to Self-Hosting Everything on a Single VPS

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