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Temporary VPS Site - Loan out your unused LEBs
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Temporary VPS Site - Loan out your unused LEBs

DStroutDStrout Member
edited March 2013 in General

A recent discussion here on LET gave me an idea. I'm pretty sure most of us have one or two impulse LEB buys that are pretty much sitting idle. But what if one of us (like the person in the linked discussion) needs a temp VPS with certain specs to do something different, just for a few days. With all those unused LEBs hanging around, why can't we share them around? I just registered the domain TempVPS.com, which will be ideal for the purpose. There would be two forms on the site: one for requesting a VPS, with a list of specs that are needed (virtualization type, memory, disk space, network speed, etc.), and one for submitting VPSes for people to request.

People who submit VPSes will retain full control of them. When someone requests a box, people who have submitted matching ones will receive an e-mail asking them if they'd like to help out. Included will be the requester's purpose for the VPS. If they choose to help out, they can send the login details (with or without SolusVM) to the requester. They can login over the period that the requester has applied for to make sure the VPS is not abused.

Would anyone be willing to submit their VPS to such a system? Again, they would retain full control, the system would not have any access to login details, etc. Requesters could report lenders if they failed to provide valid VPS info, or if the VPS did not match the listed specs, but other than that, the lenders would be autonomous.

Edit: After much badgering about the abuse potential, here is an updated list of restrictions to prevent it:
- Borrower has to be an LET user with at least 25 posts and registered for at least a week.
- Borrower must state usage of VPS, which lender can/should check.
- Borrower can only borrow one VPS every 30 days.
- Borrower can request VPS for a max of 5 days.
- Lender retains full control of the VPS (at least through SolusVM).
- Lenders can report borrowers that are misusing loaned VPSes.

I would also integrate a full "review" system, whereby borrowers can review lenders based on how quickly they responded and how helpful they were, and lenders could rate borrowers based on whether they abused or not. Kind of like eBay.

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Comments

  • KuJoeKuJoe Member, Host Rep

    Very nice idea, but I think the amount of abuse that targets cheap/free VPSs is going to be hard to combat and end up resulting in a lot of "lenders" blacklisted from providers for things they did not do.

  • What if someone gets your VPS for a few days, does some massive abuse or even a crime and then runs away. It's still your responsibility since the VPS is in your name.

  • The abuse, I would hope, would be partially mitigated by the fact that the user will have the box for such a short time (5 days max). And again, people lending VPSes would have to be very vigilant.

  • HalfEatenPieHalfEatenPie Veteran
    edited March 2013

    As awesome as this would be....

    I feel like this is too much of a legal problem. For the person who owns the VPS it's a liability and can be a honeypot for abuse (if not executed properly).

    As a provider, I'd rather have the ability to place the proper blame on the right people than to blame an innocent client who decided to "lease" it out to another person (legally though, that client who owns it is legally responsible).

    Therefore, no I would not submit any of my idle containers to it.

  • DStroutDStrout Member
    edited March 2013

    OK, what if we make it just for active LET users? Unbanned users who have at least 20 posts on LET and have been users for a month or more? I've been working on a system that validates LET users based on a code placed in their signature and can check post count and registration date. People loaning VPSes would also get the LET username of the requester and could check them out for themselves.

  • We would not allow are vps's to be eligible for this. Any of our vps would have the members accounts being canceled.

    As anything done on this vps that would break the law in the US would put us and the origional client at risk.

  • I'm sure lots of providers won't like it, but for those who do (and remember, it will probably be restricted to LET users in good standing), I still think it's a good idea.

  • @DStrout Not trying to sound douchey. Just laying down our rules. It is a great idea, just can't see is going very well with abusers.

  • I believe that those users should just use cloud services that have hourly billing, way easier for everyone.

  • DStroutDStrout Member
    edited March 2013

    Well, I'll add a third form to the list: for providers to opt-out of letting their users do this, based on IP ranges.

  • That would be good DStrout.

  • KuJoeKuJoe Member, Host Rep
    edited March 2013

    With proper restrictions and a vetting process I think this can be a nice idea. There have been times where I've needed a VPS in a certain location for an hour of testing but didn't want to purchase a VPS for a month.

    Maybe a "VPS swap" concept where only users who provide a VPS with a valid login are allowed to apply for other VPSs? Of course this would limit the potential users but it would also help limit potential abuse.

    I wouldn't have a problem with our VPSs being used for something like this as long as the owners understand the risk they are taking.

  • 5 days is enough to send spam like an effing idiot

  • I still think it's a good idea if restricted to LET users in good standing. And for lenders, instead of just logging in and checking that there's no abuse, they could check that the VPS is actually being used for the purpose the requester said it would be (kind of like whitelist as opposed to blacklist).

  • @Bogdacutuu said: I believe that those users should just use cloud services that have hourly billing, way easier for everyone.

    If you read the linked discussion, you'll see that DigitalOcean (the top dog for hourly cloud VPSes around here) had certain restrictions that prevented them from being useful to the person asking for the temp. And other providers will have restrictions that will make them less than useful for other people. That's why my service would be good: lots of options (if I can get people over the fear that they're opening up a bunch of spam boxes).

  • @KuJoe said: With proper restrictions and a vetting process I think this can be a nice idea.

    So glad someone sees what I'm getting at.

  • rm_rm_ IPv6 Advocate, Veteran

    @DStrout said: OK, what if we make it just for active LET users?

    Active LET users are the ones having too many unused VPSes to begin with :)

  • AnthonySmithAnthonySmith Member, Patron Provider

    Indeed if you put real controls in place then it should work fine, I don't like the idea of not doing something because 10% of the time X,Y or Z 'could' happen.

    If you plan to do this then you need a vetting process, i.e. a refundable payment along with ID for anyone that wants to make use of it, this is a one time thing.

  • HalfEatenPieHalfEatenPie Veteran
    edited March 2013

    How about a community where all memberships must be verified with proper client information and a verified paypal account (basically all the information our standard WHMCS has and goes through the fraud checks?)? (e.g. charge like 1 dollar for registration fees or something).

    It might have initial investment but I don't know...

    And then members who are registered and verified can then do the VPS swap?

  • @rm_ said: Active LET users are the ones having too many unused VPSes to begin with :)

    Yes, but not always the boxes that have exactly the specs they need. So while one LET user is making use of someone else's box that has, for instance, the Xen virtualization and 256MB memory they need, they might be loaning out their 3GB OpenVZ box to another LET user who needs a high-memory box for a while.

    @AnthonySmith said: If you plan to do this then you need a vetting process, i.e. a refundable payment along with ID for anyone that wants to make use of it, this is a one time thing.

    There are enough trust issues without having people have to trust me, i.e. with their money for a while.

  • @DStrout said: other providers will have restrictions that will make them less than useful for other people

    Such as?

  • @Bogdacutuu said: Such as?

    P2P, IRC, Gameservers, etc.

    It all depends on each provider's ToS. And even if its just "for a few hours" or "for a few days", you still have to follow the ToS.

  • DStroutDStrout Member
    edited March 2013

    @HalfEatenPie Ideally you'd have a $15 (or so) deposit while you're using the VPS which you get back when you're done with it, assuming that you've been good. However, then you incur additional "trust overhead", because you have to trust me as a payment processor.

    @Bogdacutuu said: Such as?

    Did you at all bother reading the linked thread? DO, for instance, doesn't allow you to build your own kernel. I'm no VPS expert, but I'm sure there are all sorts of restrictions that could disqualify some provider. Or not even "restrictions" as such, just different types of virtualization or different amounts of memory. And besides, this will be free.

  • @HalfEatenPie said: P2P, IRC, Gameservers, etc.

    It all depends on each provider's ToS. And even if its just "for a few hours" or "for a few days", you still have to follow the ToS.

    My (KVM) provider has no such restrictions (they even allow legal P2P), and yet I only pay for what I use. And the pricing is very good (considering that I don't use it 24/7, it's perfectly affordable).

  • @DStrout said: Did you at all bother reading the linked thread? DO, for instance, doesn't allow you to build your own kernel. I'm no VPS expert, but I'm sure there are all sorts of restrictions that could disqualify some provider. Or not even "restrictions" as such, just different types of virtualization or different amounts of memory. And besides, this will be free.

    You'll run into many problems if anyone can come and request servers for whatever reason they need it for free. What would convince the VPS owner to loan out their servers?

  • DStroutDStrout Member
    edited March 2013

    @Bogdacutuu Good for you. You might not need this service, but others might. If you're not interested, move along. Just read the thread.

  • @yomero shit man I know right you guys aren't this dumb. What about the reputation of your box. If you have fifty LEBs and you just don't care because you use them to cluster and run proxies for illegal software go ahead people make money off that more power to em at the end of the day. I think @DStrout is awesome but where is the common sense. Any one replying to this in support sounds to me like they're trying to sell me on an MLM scheme. Sorry, this is an extraordinarily bad idea.

  • yomeroyomero Member
    edited March 2013

    @natestamm said: What about the reputation of your box

    That's the point

    @natestamm said: Sorry, this is an extraordinarily bad idea.

  • lol

  • @DStrout said: You might not need this service, but others might.

    I fail to understand how someone needs a VPS so badly but can't even be bothered to Google for a reliable provider.

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