HgN Lab

Hoàng Gia Nguyên

I'm a hobbyist who is now exploring the world of self-hosting and AI. This blog documents my journey building and managing my own server and applications, sharing tips and learnings along the way. Let's connect!
One Year of Homelab — The Services I Actually Use

One Year of Homelab — The Services I Actually Use

After a year of running a homelab and a stretch of time where I barely touched it, here are the self-hosted services that genuinely made a difference in daily life — from media streaming and photo management to backups and push notifications.

One Year of Homelab — The Services I Actually Use

After the Free Tier: how a hobbyist continues living with LLMs

After RPM/TPM limits tightened, I was forced to re-evaluate how I use LLMs and redesign a cost-efficient, sustainable setup for personal needs.

After the Free Tier: how a hobbyist continues living with LLMs
Clipboard Share

The 10MB Clipboard Share App: Why I Built My Own Text-Sharing Tool

A reminder that sometimes the best solution to a self-hosting headache is a simple script, a Docker container, and a plain .txt file.

The 10MB Clipboard Share App: Why I Built My Own Text-Sharing Tool
Graph showing shrinking free-tier API limits

The Sudden Squeeze on Free AI API Limits

Why free and low-tier AI API limits have tightened, how it impacts hobbyists, and what to consider next.

The Sudden Squeeze on Free AI API Limits
A person accessing a server from a laptop

Securely Access Your Self-Hosted Services From Anywhere

A guide to understanding and choosing the right remote access solution for your self-hosted applications, from reverse proxies to zero-trust tunnels.

Securely Access Your Self-Hosted Services From Anywhere

Support My Work!

Your support helps me keep the servers running, the code compiling, and the late-night learning sessions fueled. Thank you for being a part of my journey!

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