===== A Paranoid’s Guide to Resource Efficient Self Hosting using nspawn =====
  * **Speaker**: Tim Knox
  * **Room**: 250
  * **Time**: Saturday, [[https://pretalx.seagl.org/2026/talk/PQ9AJ7.ics|Oct 24th 3:00 – 3:20pm]]  

  * **Format**: Talk (20 minutes)
  * **Difficulty**: Intermediate
  * **Track**: Systems & Virtualization
  * **Additional Tags**: systemd-nspawn, Self-hosting, Linux, Containers, Privacy, Virtualization
  * **Experience**: UNIX systems enthusiast and aspiring software engineer with a focus on finding practical, production-ready uses for obscure or underrated technology.  

==== Description: ====  
For the privacy-conscious self-hoster, finding a balance between security, resource efficiency, and simplicity can be a challenge. This session explores systemd-nspawn, a versatile but often overlooked native process encapsulation subsystem for Linux that serves as a middle ground between Docker and chroots. By leveraging kernel-based process encapsulation to implement FreeBSD jail-like functionality, nspawn provides a lightweight alternative to traditional containers or virtualization. The speaker will share their journey of switching from cloud-based to on-premise self-hosting, detailing the specific upsides and drawbacks of implementing an nspawn-based environment on a Red Hat-based system.

**Target Audience:**  
  * Privacy-focused self-hosters
  * Linux system administrators
  * Users interested in lightweight virtualization alternatives