Self-hosting Supabase - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Architecture

intermediate

Understanding Supabase Self-hosting Components

Which component is essential for managing authentication in a self-hosted Supabase setup?

A GoTrue service

B Realtime server

C PostgreSQL database

D Storage server

💡 Hint

Think about which service handles user sign-ups and logins.

GoTrue is the authentication service in Supabase. It manages user accounts, sign-ups, and logins.

❓ Configuration

intermediate

Configuring Environment Variables for Supabase

Which environment variable must be set to specify the PostgreSQL connection string in a self-hosted Supabase deployment?

A PG_SUPABASE_URL

B SUPABASE_DB_URL

C POSTGRES_CONNECTION

D DATABASE_URL

💡 Hint

Look for the standard variable used by PostgreSQL clients.

DATABASE_URL is the standard environment variable used to specify the PostgreSQL connection string.

❓ security

advanced

Securing Supabase Self-hosted API Access

In a self-hosted Supabase setup, which method best protects the API from unauthorized access?

A Disable all API keys and allow anonymous access

B Use JWT tokens with role-based policies

C Use service_role key only for client requests

D Expose the database directly to clients

💡 Hint

Think about how to control user permissions securely.

JWT tokens combined with role-based policies ensure secure and controlled API access.

❓ service_behavior

advanced

Behavior of Realtime Server in Self-hosted Supabase

What happens if the Realtime server in a self-hosted Supabase setup loses connection to the PostgreSQL replication slot?

A Realtime server continues to send outdated data indefinitely

B Realtime server automatically switches to a backup database

C Realtime server stops sending updates until connection is restored

D Realtime server deletes all cached data and restarts

💡 Hint

Consider how real-time data streaming depends on database replication.

The Realtime server relies on PostgreSQL replication slots; if disconnected, it stops sending updates until reconnected.

✅ Best Practice

expert

Best Practice for Scaling Self-hosted Supabase Storage

When scaling the storage service in a self-hosted Supabase environment, which approach best ensures high availability and durability?

A Use a distributed object storage system like MinIO or S3-compatible service

B Replicate files manually between storage servers using cron jobs

C Store all files on a single local disk attached to the storage server

D Keep files only in PostgreSQL large objects for simplicity

💡 Hint

Think about how cloud providers handle file storage at scale.

Distributed object storage systems provide redundancy, scalability, and durability, which are essential for production storage.