Opening a port on my router, is it safe?

I have a database which will be receiving info from external APIs.
I made an API (in asp.net core web api) for the database to receive requests from those external APIs. The API will be running on my computer on an IIS server, which isn't currently running.
Completely new to all of this, but my understanding right now is that I will have to open up a port on my router to listen for external requests from the APIs. I am pretty nervous about keeping the database and my computer/network safe. Any recommendations on how to keep everything secure?

guninvalid? more like stupidvali•5/30/25, 9:41 AM

there's a bunch of high level stuff you can do if you want to get really into network administration which... i mean if you want help setting up a DMZ I'd be happy to provide it :3

guninvalid? more like stupidvali•5/30/25, 9:42 AM

but for a simple service like this, if possible and you can spend some money, i would suggest moving it into the cloud

guninvalid? more like stupidvali•5/30/25, 9:43 AM

just put something on Google Cloud Platform or Amazon Web Services, so you can just have them handle most of the security, you focus on firewalling your internal VM and any other connections. the main problem is that that can get somewhat expensive, for a windows server id expect to pay in the $5-20 per month mark, double that if you need two or more

RRaisin I have a database which will be receiving info from external APIs. I made an API...

guninvalid? more like stupidvali•5/30/25, 9:44 AM

general principles of cybersec is if you don't need to keep it open, don't keep it open. make sure you're only port forwarding the ports you absolutely need to- so 80 and maybe 443

guninvalid? more like stupidvali•5/30/25, 9:45 AM

if you can, set your server on a separate VLAN, usually just plugging it into the router directly will work just fine

guninvalid? more like stupidvali•5/30/25, 9:48 AM

if it's feasible, it might help to virtualize the machine in a larger machine using virtualbox or ESXi if you have the money for a license

guninvalid? more like stupidvali•5/30/25, 9:49 AM

that's all i can really think of :VentiShrug:

Opening a port on my router, is it safe?

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