Linux boxes via SSH: suspended when disconected

(shellbox.dev)

28 points | by messh 1 hour ago

5 comments

  • Egor3f 50 minutes ago
    $36/mo for 2/4/50 VPS without public IP... Ok, I get the idea that the service is for non-regular use, but I think even $0.005 per hour ($3.6/mo) of suspended state is too expensive. The same config in Hetzner is just $4.09/mo for 24/7 working VPS with public IPv4 address
    • messh 42 minutes ago
      Hi, That is a good point actually. The suspended price has to be significantly lower than the alternative. I'll revise it.

      Still, there is the advantage of simplicity not having to deal with the web console etc. Some people may enjoy this

      • nine_k 13 minutes ago
        The interesting part here is that the box is stateful, unlike a Lambda. You return literally to the point where you left off.
    • nine_k 17 minutes ago
      Interesting to compare with Fly's sprites: https://sprites.dev/#billing
      • messh 14 minutes ago
        One difference other than price is that sprites doesn't seem to use ssh
        • nine_k 10 minutes ago
          Also, they cost less than a shellbox when unused (idle), and more when used.
  • Imustaskforhelp 12 minutes ago
    This is fascinating idea. I created an idea like this on top of firecracker and custom golang ssh client to build something like this for my own personal use case (the abstraction part of pricing and how to connect it seemed the more difficult part for me atleast)

    What stack does this use underneath?

    Good luck with launch, this idea is similar to railway in terms of pricing model. I discussed about it a few comments back and I think its an interesting idea and we are seeing alternatives within such pricing model

    Also are you using some cloud provider itself or building it yourself, I'd be interested in so many details to discover

    Have a nice day and looking forward to ya response! Good luck with your project!

    • messh 5 minutes ago
      Hi thanks for the interest!

      This is all written in python and the AsyncSSH package. Firecracker for VMs with memory mapped files for ram. Paddle for billing. Caddy as a reverse proxy for certificates.

      It works on top of very large bare metal instances.

      I'm thinking maybe open sourcing but it will take some more work on the code to make it publishable w/o embarrassing myself :)

  • mnsc 4 minutes ago
    Is it non-American all the way down?
    • messh 2 minutes ago
      I was born in Argentina, so technically American, yes ;)
      • messh 1 minute ago
        If it is successful then the next region would be in the US
  • yjftsjthsd-h 6 minutes ago
    > Note: The -O flag is required for OpenSSH 9.0+ to use legacy SCP protocol.

    Why isn't SFTP supported?

    • messh 3 minutes ago
      WIP, this is still in MVP phase...
  • Liftyee 1 hour ago
    This looks quite similar to exe.dev which was on here a while ago - anyone know how it compares?
    • messh 34 minutes ago
      I think exe.dev is subscription. In Shellbox.dev you have funds and pay very little when not connected
    • indigodaddy 1 hour ago
      Pretty sure shellbox.dev has been around for at least 2-3 years though - EDIT nm they have a show HN from two days ago. I must be thinking of a similarly named/sounding service
      • messh 40 minutes ago
        Maybe you mean keypub.sh? That is another project of mine with similar graphic design.