Robin WolffDeutsch

I write backends and run the servers they live on.

I’m Robin Wolff: a backend developer working with PHP, Symfony and Node.js, founder of a hosting company and a computer science student at the University of Wuppertal.

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My stack, from the server up to the application

Pick a layer.

ApplicationLanguages and frameworksDatabaseVirtualisationHardware

Application

Hosting interface, dashboards, bots

A hosting interface I wrote almost entirely myself, plus dashboards, Discord bots and custom work for clients.

Languages and frameworks

PHP, Symfony, Node.js, Next.js

Java at 14, Node.js at 16, PHP at 17. I’ve worked with Symfony since 2023 and have been trying out Next.js since 2025.

Database

MariaDB, MySQL

SQL has been with me since my first Minecraft plugins. I tried MongoDB, but I get along better with SQL.

Virtualisation

Proxmox, KVM

My customers’ KVM servers run on Proxmox. My hosting interface talks to the Proxmox API directly.

Hardware

Dedicated server

The first dedicated server arrived in 2022. In early 2024 it was upgraded because it was almost 90% full.

Projects

What I’ve built, and what is still running today. The bars show which layers of the stack a project touches.

  • Hosting interface

    Built in-houseIn production

    It began as a web interface from GitHub that I kept modifying: one feature out, one in. Today it is almost entirely my own code and runs my hosting company. It connects to Proxmox for virtualisation, Mollie for payments and Lexoffice for accounting.

    Application, Languages and frameworks, Database, Virtualisation, Hardware
    • PHP
    • MariaDB
    • Proxmox API
    • Mollie API
    • Lexoffice API

  • Order management

    Client project

    Custom development for a client who needed an order management system. One of my two larger Symfony projects.

    Application, Languages and frameworks, Database
    • PHP
    • Symfony

  • Modguard dashboard

    Symfony version replaced

    A dashboard for the public Discord bot Modguard, built with Symfony. It was later replaced by a Next.js version for efficiency reasons.

    Application, Languages and frameworks, Database
    • PHP
    • Symfony
    • Next.js

  • UniFi Auto Abuse Reporter

    Open source

    When a UniFi Dream Machine detects an intrusion, it sends an email. This script reads those emails, extracts the source IP, looks up the responsible abuse contact in the RIPE database and sends them a report automatically. It also notifies you via Telegram.

    Application, Languages and frameworks
    • JavaScript
    • Node.js
    • RIPE database
    • Telegram

  • Discord bots and Minecraft plugins

    Early work

    Where it all started: plugins for Minecraft servers in Java, later bots for Discord communities in Node.js. Both had an SQL database behind them from the start.

    Application, Languages and frameworks, Database
    • Java
    • Node.js
    • MySQL
    • Discord API

The company

Alongside my studies I founded a company that offers hosting under several brands. The largest of them is HeroServ.

What HeroServ offers

  • Domains
  • Web hosting
  • KVM servers
  • Game servers
  • Radio streaming servers
  • Licences, for example for phone systems
  • Custom development
Company
IT-Solutions Robin Wolff
Main brand
HeroServ

How it came about

  1. Free hosting

    I start out with free game servers and web space, and learn how Linux, networks and servers really work. Discord bots and Minecraft plugins for communities come out of it on the side.

  2. Business registered

    Free hosting becomes a paid service. Domains, VPS, dedicated servers and TeamSpeak servers join the range.

  3. Second brand, first dedicated server

    A second brand addresses business customers: monthly invoicing, more products, lower prices and their own support channels. The first dedicated server arrives the same year.

  4. HeroServ acquired

    In the middle of the year I buy the hosting company HeroServ, now the main brand. New partners bring new products, including phone systems with phone numbers.

  5. Server upgraded

    At the start of the year the dedicated server is almost 90% full. It gets an upgrade.

Background

I’ve been programming since I was 14. I learned most of it on my own projects, one language after another.

  1. At 14

    Java

    My first programs are plugins for Minecraft. SQL databases follow shortly after, first MySQL, later MariaDB.

  2. At 16

    JavaScript and Node.js

    I write bots for Discord, again with a database behind them. Java gradually fades into the background.

    I also tried shell scripting and MongoDB around then. MongoDB lasted one explainer video: I just get along better with SQL.

  3. At 17

    PHP

    Simple websites first, then web interfaces. I take an interface from GitHub and rebuild it until hardly anything of the original is left.

  4. 2023

    Symfony

    I learn the PHP framework Symfony, with help from a developer at Technik Begeistert. Two larger projects have come out of it since.

    Technik Begeistert e. V.

  5. 2025

    Next.js

    A friend recommends Next.js. I’m not sure yet whether I like it. We’ll see.

  6. Today

    Computer science in Wuppertal

    Alongside the company I study at the University of Wuppertal, working towards a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.

What I work with

Languages
PHP, JavaScript, Java, SQL, Shell (basics)
Frameworks and runtime
Symfony, Node.js, Next.js
Databases
MariaDB, MySQL
APIs
Proxmox, Mollie, Lexoffice, Discord, Minecraft, my own REST APIs
Operations
Linux, Proxmox and KVM, Networking

Competitions

Before I ran servers, I measured paper planes and built robots.

Jugend forscht

Three entries with two projects

World Robot Olympiad

2019, in a team of two

  • A robot that lays cables

    The task: build a robot from Lego Technic that lays cables and transformers according to a plan. We programmed it with LEGO’s own software and the EV3 brick.

Contact

Need a backend, an API integration or a web interface of your own? Write to me, preferably by email.

contact@robin-w.de

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Elsewhere

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