Reverse proxy Docker containers vs Qnap Reverse Proxy feature

English Container & Virtualization
1

Hello,

I am looking to host a lightweight API web hook endpoint (to receive web hooks from Notion, to trigger various activities). I have created a Python Docker container and installed FastAPI. A basic Hello World works when testing locally.

I want to open it up, so that it can naturally receive web hooks from the internet. I understand the most common approach for this is to set up a reverse proxy either with Traefik or Nginx Proxy Manager. I have also come across Qnap’s own Reverse Proxy feature within the Network Access area of the Control Panel.

Can someone explain the benefit of going with one option vs another? I am very new to all things Containers / securing traffic into the NAS.

For additional info, I have the Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate set up for my *.myqnapcloud.com sub-domain. I also have my own personal domain, set up via Cloudflare. I was hoping to use this (and have something like api.mydomain.com), pointing to my FastAPI container. The only potential spanner (if it is even one) is that I can’t point my personal sub-domain (api.mydomain.com) directly to my router’s IP as it is not static. So I am actually pointing it to Qnap’s DDNS service - i.e. api.mydomain.com → my-subdomain.myqnapcloud.com → Router IP → Port Forward 80 and 443 to NAS.

Thanks in advance!

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You can most definitely point your personal domain to your dynamic IP to your router. That’s why you use a dynamic DNS provider. That’s all that MyQNAPCloud is doing. Your router may even be able to handle that for you.

I will let others comment on your question on proxy as I’m just not sure.

1 Like
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Hello, if you own a personal domain and use Cloudflare as your DNS server, have you tried their “CloudFlare Tunnel” feature?

This allows your services (e.g., Notion) to trigger or push messages to your custom subdomain, which can then make requests to FastAPI in your Container Station.

This method eliminates the need to open ports on the gateway. External access to your custom subdomain will connect directly to your designated service IP or port, like a portal.

While CloudFlare’s free plan has some rate limits, this shouldn’t be a problem for general notifications and personal use.

If you are interested in this method, I can prepare some more settings for your reference. :grin: