In a previous post, I wrote about building a B-Mode—the idea that your smart devices should still be functional, even in a degraded way, if your main controller goes down. But B-Mode only covers part of the problem. What happens if your entire homelab fails? What if your ISP drops, or your main server crashes while you’re away?
That’s where external monitoring comes in.
Why a VPS Is My Homelab’s Safety Net
I’ve always liked hosting as much as possible at home. It gives me control, keeps my data local, and aligns with the self-hosted philosophy I value. But there are limits:
- If your ISP is down, your monitoring services hosted at home are offline too.
- If your server crashes, you won’t know until you notice devices not working.
- If you travel often, you may not realize something failed until much later.
The answer is to host a small part of your infrastructure outside your home. It is still self-hosting, even if you rent space. A cheap VPS (Virtual Private Server) can serve as a watchdog, constantly checking whether your homelab and internet connection are reachable. And it doesn’t take much to get started.
How I Use Uptime Kuma for External Monitoring
On my VPS, which costs just a few dollars a month, I run Uptime Kuma, a self-hosted monitoring tool that’s simple but powerful.
Uptime Kuma pings my home network and the servers of a few family members, keeping an eye on:
- Internet availability
- Critical self-hosted services
- Response times
If a server or ISP connection goes down, Kuma alerts me right away. Because it’s running on a VPS outside my home, I’ll still get notified even if my entire local network is offline.
For anyone running a homelab, Uptime Kuma is one of the easiest and most effective ways to add external monitoring.
Getting Alerts Anywhere with Ntfy
Monitoring isn’t enough unless you also get alerts you’ll actually notice. That’s where Ntfy (pronounced notify) comes in.
Ntfy is a self-hosted notification service. It can be installed on your VPS, or you can use the hosted version for free with optional paid upgrades to support development. Ntfy supports a web app, desktop, and mobile apps—and it integrates smoothly with Uptime Kuma and other services.
Here’s how I use it:
- Uptime Kuma sends alerts to Ntfy when a monitored service fails
- Ntfy pushes those alerts to my phone and desktop instantly
- Other tools (like Frigate for camera detection) also send notifications into Ntfy
Ntfy organizes messages into topics that you subscribe to. With access control, you can decide which users can read, write, or subscribe to specific topics. It’s lightweight, flexible, and can be wired into nearly any self-hosted project.
Designing for Outages You Can’t Control
With this setup, I’m covered for most common homelab issues:
- Server outages
- ISP failures
- Device-specific crashes
The only remaining weak point is the VPS provider itself. But outages at large hosting companies are rare, and if you’re truly paranoid, you could run monitoring on two different VPS providers for redundancy.
Even then, my monitoring chain is still stronger than it would be if everything lived only inside my home.
Why Homelab Reliability Matters More Than Perfection
Experimentation is fun, but reliability matters. By running Uptime Kuma and Ntfy on a low-cost VPS, I’ve given myself peace of mind that if my homelab or ISP ever fails, I’ll know right away.
Just like my B-Mode philosophy for smart devices, this approach ensures I’m not left in the dark when things go wrong.
Because in the end, the smartest homelab isn’t the one with the most toys—it’s the one that keeps working even when something breaks.
