It must be very satisfying to watch both the front and back end of a website working together, listening to your server hum to life when the site gets busy and your community comes online - but I would suggest for most that self hosting is more complication and expense than it is worth - especially for new site developers.
Building out the front end of an UNA site, developing content and cultivating a community is a big enough task to consider - unless you have some technical know-how and an earnest DIY attitude, I would suggest that for most publishers, using a VPS or cloud based solution is the best path forward.