Against All Odds: My Story of Building a Project When Everything Was Stacked Against Me

I believe many of you, just like me, have tried creating your own project but eventually burned out and lost hope. It’s especially tough when conditions are far from ideal: I live in a country where war is going on, where there are times without electricity, where you're living in a rented apartment in a city that's not your own—and you still have to earn money to support your wife and child. Yet, despite all these obstacles, I realized one simple truth: you must never give up if you truly want to achieve your goal.

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The Path Through Mistakes and Attempts

I’ve had 5 different projects, each coming with its own set of challenges. Lack of resources, exhaustion, and internet issues caused by power outages—all these drained a lot of energy. But in the end, I found the strength not to quit and actually managed to bring one of my projects to completion.

• Motivation: The drive to provide for my family and prove to myself that I could create something worthwhile.
• Perseverance: Understanding that every mistake is a lesson, and every attempt is a step toward success.

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Monitoring as the Key to Stability

One of my biggest discoveries was realizing just how crucial it is to have a monitoring system in place. In situations where your internet or power might vanish at any moment, it’s vital for your service to keep running, even if you’re offline. And if something goes wrong, the system should not only notify you but also be capable of automatically restarting critical components (for example, via a webhook), preventing downtime without your intervention.

Types of Monitoring

1. HTTP(S)

   • Checks the availability and response time of your website or application.
   • Advantage: Instantly alerts you if the site “goes down” or experiences a sudden slowdown.

2. TCP Port

   • Monitors specific ports (e.g., for databases or other services).
   • Advantage: Helps you confirm if the required service is running on the correct port.

3. Ping (ICMP)

   • A basic check to see if a server or device is reachable over the network.
   • Advantage: If the ping fails, it indicates a network issue or that the server isn’t responding.

4. DNS

   • Ensures domain names are resolving correctly to IP addresses.
   • Advantage: Prevents situations where your site won’t load due to incorrect DNS settings.

5. SSL

   • Tracks the validity and correctness of your SSL certificates.
   • Advantage: Lets you renew certificates in time and avoid scary browser warnings.

6. Domain

   • Monitors your domain’s registration period and alerts you if it needs renewal.
   • Advantage: Helps you avoid losing your domain through forgetfulness or financial issues.

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Why It’s So Important

When you have a solid monitoring system in place, you don’t need to worry about your project being left unattended when you lose power or go offline. The service will send you an alert (via email, Telegram, Slack, or another channel) if there’s an issue, and better yet—if configured correctly, it can automatically restart the affected components via a webhook to fix the problem on its own.

For me, this has been a lifesaver because there are days when I simply can’t keep an eye on the project in real time. Thanks to tools like UpMon.app, I can be confident that if something goes wrong, I won’t miss a critical alert, and the system will take the first steps toward recovery without my intervention.

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Conclusion and Words of Encouragement

Over the past few years, I’ve wanted to quit countless times. When you’re sitting in the dark, in a rented apartment in a city that’s not your own, while a war rages on—it’s incredibly hard to find the strength to keep going. But each small victory, every problem solved, and every bit of positive user feedback acts like fuel that keeps you moving forward.

My advice:

• Don’t be afraid of mistakes and failures: they make you stronger.
• Absolutely implement monitoring: it saves you time and nerves, and with the right setup, it can even restart components automatically.
• Never forget why you’re doing all this: for your family, your users, and the pride in a job well done.

Remember, even in the toughest circumstances, you can achieve your goal if you keep going and refuse to give up. I wish you the best of luck in your projects—may they all reach the finish line instead of getting stuck halfway!

For more insights and to explore powerful monitoring solutions, check out UpMon.app. Happy coding!