I recently spent a weekend improving my VPS setup, and I ended up learning a lot more about networking than I expected.

I had two problems that kept nagging me

My SSH port was still exposed to the internet. I know it's generally safe with key-based authentication, but I never liked leaving it open.

I had no easy way to know if a service had crashed or how much CPU, RAM, or disk space my VPS was actually using and I didn't want to SSH into it to see what's happening everytime.

The solution I ended up with was Tailscale + Beszel.

While setting it up, I went down a rabbit hole learning how Tailscale works under the hood with WireGuard, NAT hole punching, DERP relays, and how SSH still works over a UDP based VPN.

I wrote everything I learned into a blog post with a detailed guide on setting up Tailscale and Beszel.

https://syedfazil.dev/blogs/tech/tailscale-beszel-vps/

I am looking to help anyone who is facing the same problem and for feedback from experienced folks