Reach several home devices from outside through one IP using subdomains — by Daniel on Super User

intermediateforumCC BY-SA (Stack Exchange; version depends on post date)

With one public IP and a domain, run a single nginx reverse proxy that sends device1.example.com, device2.example.com and so on to different internal servers by name. Only that one proxy needs ports forwarded. Anything exposed this way should be secured (HTTPS, authentication) or kept behind a VPN instead.

Read the full thread on superuser.com

Source: Reach several home devices from outside through one IP using subdomains by Daniel on Super User. Licence: CC BY-SA (Stack Exchange; version depends on post date).

Source reviewed: 2026-11-02
Link checked: Not yet
Tested hands-on: Not by Oddbyte.Me

reverse proxysubdomainsport forwardingself-hostingnginx

More in Community Answers (Stack Exchange)

Load balancer vs reverse proxy: what's the difference? — by icky3000 on Server Fault

beginnerforum

A plain-English explanation: a load balancer spreads requests across several servers, while a reverse proxy is a broader tool that can load-balance and also cache, terminate SSL, compress and filter traffic. Often one product does both jobs.

Why put nginx in front of your app server? — by blueben on Server Fault

intermediateforum

Explains the benefits of a reverse proxy in front of an application server, focusing on slow clients: nginx buffers slow connections so the limited app workers stay free. It also covers SSL handling and absorbing traffic spikes.

Fix broken CSS/links when an app is reverse-proxied under a sub-folder — by HBruijn on Server Fault

advancedforum

Proxies rewrite headers such as redirects, but not the links inside the page, so an app that uses absolute paths (/css/style.css) breaks under /subfolder/. The answer lists the real options: make the app use relative paths, deploy it under the same sub-folder internally, or rewrite page content with a filter module as a last resort.