Servers & Deployments 101: Understanding Our Coolify Setup
by lucasstrauss100 · Servers & Deployments 101 — Understanding Our Coolify Setup
A one-hour overview course for anyone who has only run a Next.js app locally and pushed code to GitHub. Explains, from first principles, what a server and a VPS are, how Docker and Coolify turn code into a live app, how domains and Cloudflare route traffic to it, and how the team keeps the whole thing secure — so you can understand our actual Liquid Web + Coolify setup end to end, not just click the deploy button.
Free account, then it's yours: your own private copy with a clean slate and its own review schedule.
Sign up free to take it →3
modules
9
lessons
1.1h
estimated work · target 1h
What's inside
27 tasks · 39 flashcards · 17 concepts · 21 recall prompts
Sample recall prompts — this is what studying it feels like
- In your own words, define what a server is and explain the one-sentence job description that separates it from an ordinary computer.
- List the three specific reasons a laptop makes a poor server, and explain why each one matters.
- Describe the client-request-response loop and give a concrete example using a browser and a website.
Syllabus
The Physical Foundation: Servers and the VPS
What a server is, why our VPS is a rented slice of a bigger machine, and how Ubuntu and SSH form the base layer everything else sits on.
- What Is a Server, Really? reading · flashcard · quiz · 5 cards
- What Is a VPS? Renting Our Own Computer in the Cloud reading · flashcard · quiz · 5 cards
- Ubuntu and SSH: The Operating System Layer reading · flashcard · teach_back · 5 cards
Docker and Coolify: Packaging and Running Apps
How Docker isolates each app into its own portable container, and how Coolify sits on top of Docker and Ubuntu to give us a click-based control panel.
- Containers and Docker reading · flashcard · quiz · 4 cards
- What Is Coolify? reading · flashcard · quiz · 5 cards
- How the Pieces Fit Together reading · quiz · teach_back
From Code to Live App: Deployment, DNS, and Security
The full journey from git push to a live app, how domains and Cloudflare route traffic to our VPS, and the access controls that keep the whole thing secure.
- The Deployment Flow: From Code to Live App reading · flashcard · quiz · 5 cards
- Domains, DNS, and Cloudflare quiz · reading · flashcard · 5 cards
- Access, Security, and Our Full Setup reading · flashcard · essay · 5 cards