Hello everyone :D

I’m looking to host some gaming servers to play with my friends (minecraft, enshrouded, and others), and some apps (paperless-ng, jellyfin, seafile, etc.). Each game server must be accessible from the Internet, but only certain applications will be accessible (jellyfin, etc.)

I don’t want to open any ports on my router or share my public IP. I already have a domain name, and I’m thinking of using some VPS to host a reverse proxy with tailscale or netbird.

For the VPS, I’m thinking of using OVH with unlimited bandwidth. I already have the domain name here, and I live in France where the servers are.

A few questions :

  • Is this a good idea ? Any better solution is welcome.
  • I don’t really know how I’m going to redirect subdomains to use the correct reverse proxy. Local DNS on the VPS ?
  • Tailscale or Netbird ? (I actually don’t have any idea)
  • Won’t using Tailscale or Netbird like this cause performance losses on game servers ?

Reverse proxy :

  • nginx for application
  • infrared or gate for minecraft server
  • Others for different game servers if needed.
  • Big P
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    39 months ago

    As far as I’m aware you don’t need a seperate VPS if you’re using tailscale, or you don’t need tailscale of you use a reverse proxy via a vps. You can just host it in the same place you’re hosting the games and apps.

    • DragnansiaOP
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      19 months ago

      If I use the same server to host games and apps, how am I going to redirect URLs to the correct reverse proxy ? I think I need a little more research, but I agree that putting the reverse proxy in the same place as what I’m hosting is a better idea.

      On the other hand, if I just use tailscale, how can people connect to the game servers without having to install anything ? Or I just don’t understand how it works.

      • Big P
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        19 months ago

        You still need a reverse proxy just doesn’t need to be on a seperate server. If you want to do it without people having to install something, you may be able to use cf tunnels for the web pages but game servers definitely don’t work through that and you’d have to have some sort of external forwarding. Keep in mind though that will introduce possibly an unacceptable amount of lag to the server.

        • DragnansiaOP
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          19 months ago

          I’m going to try the first approach of @Limonene.
          I hope the amount of lag is not that high, and thank you for reminding me.