Server options for development - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: Harvs
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 06, 2014, 10:57:15 pm
content: I'm in a spot of a pickle at the moment with a job I'm working on.It involves an embedded system sending and receiving data from a server via GPRS modem (and I'm doing the embedded bit.) Now normally I'd plok a spare PC on the network in my workshop, open a port to it in my router to the wide world and setup whatever test scripts I needed on it to monitor/test the embedded device.Now the problem is with the recent bushfires here we lost all copper ADSL lines, so I'm running on a 3G internet service for my main internet connection at the moment. I don't pretend to know much about IT, but apparently the connection for the 3G modems sit in their own VPN (or something) which mean you never get a proper public IP, and therefore you can't setup a server on one (i.e. it's impossible to initiate a connection from a remote device to an device sitting on a 3G internet connection.)So I'm after any idea's for how I might get around this issue for development. Again, my IT knowledge isn't that great (due to lack of interest) but a bit of googling has turned up something called a VPS (virtual private server.) Does anyone know what the low down is? Is it pretty much a virtual machine with a clean linux install you can SSH into and install what you want (in my case, a LAMP install and probably some python scripts.) Or any better ideas?Thanks

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 06, 2014, 11:04:51 pm
content: Amazon EC2 is the answer, cheap as chips, as puny or as powerful as you want, charged per hour effectively, if you only need the smallest one, they have a free tier.http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/

author: Harvs
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2014, 04:34:43 am
content: Mate that's awesome. Thanks for the pointer...

author: Kohanbash
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2014, 04:43:22 am
content: I have also used the EC2's and they are a good deal. If you are on a paying tier there are random fees (based on access locations, disk usage, etc..) that make you pay a little more then the default rate for the unit, but they are still a good deal.In the US (and probably elsewhere) you can get a static IP on a 3G/4G modem for a monthly fee which gives you a proper public IP which can be used for a server. Some providers will also charge an up front service fee to add the static IP to your account.

author: johnwa
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2014, 06:14:34 am
content: I think a VPS is probably the best bet for this application. However, I believe Internode offer static IPs on 3G connections if you want to go that way.

author: Harvs
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2014, 06:26:46 am
content: Thanks all, in this case I've got a reserved instance on EC2 now and it really is just what I needed.Infact it's going to be very flexible for this situation, and very cost effective at $0.012AUD hour. Practically nothing in the scheme of things. I think I'll probably do it this way in the future. Just not having to go through the hassle of setting up a PC, finding bench space and doing a clean linux install is worth the negligible cost.