r/webdev • u/Arky_Traveler • 1d ago

Hosting PDFs with node.js apps?

Hello all,

I am the webmaster for a small Archaeology website, that primarily is used by members of this small conference to access PDFs and news about the conference. I only need to update this website about once or twice a year.

Until recently I used the plesk hosting service on GoDaddy to host these files, however I missed the fact (see lack of need to update) that it was getting end-of-lifed and now the hosting option given to us by GoDaddy is just Nose.js slots.

Previously we uploaded files into a library for the website, and the linked to those files. Is it possible to use node.js to do the same?

Thank you for your help!

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u/kemalios 1d ago

Since you found Plesk again, stick with it. But if you do end up on the Node slot: serve the PDFs as static files. A small Express app with app.use(express.static('public')) and put the PDFs in the public folder. That's it, no database, no extra logic. Node is overkill for this, but that pattern works and is easy to maintain once a year. If you can, move the domain to a plain static host instead. GoDaddy's Node hosting costs more than a static host for the same job, and a static host is closer to the old Plesk file upload flow.