New on LowEndTalk? Please Register and read our Community Rules.
All new Registrations are manually reviewed and approved, so a short delay after registration may occur before your account becomes active.
All new Registrations are manually reviewed and approved, so a short delay after registration may occur before your account becomes active.
Renting Out Unused Desktops for Remote Use – Advice Needed
AngeloGlitch
Member
in General
Hi everyone,
I have some spare desktop hardware that I’m considering renting out for remote access. I’m not looking to turn this into a full-fledged business, but I figure it could be a good way to make some extra money.
My setup includes:
3x i7 8700, RX 580 8GB, 16GB DDR4-2600, 512GB SSD, 2TB HDD
6x Ryzen 9 7940HS, 32GB DDR5, 512GB NVMe
I have dedicated 1Gbps bandwidth and reliable power, so uptime shouldn’t be an issue.
I’d appreciate any advice on:
Platforms or marketplaces where I can list these for rent
Software for managing remote access securely
Pricing models (hourly, monthly, etc.)
Potential pitfalls or things to watch out for
If anyone here has experience renting out hardware like this, I’d love to hear your insights. Thanks!
Comments
Can I test it out first? Then I will be more able to offer solutions
Don't know about marketplaces specific for something like that or software, however:
Biggest pitfall to watch out for, since you're (assuming) running this off your home ISP is going to be illegal content that will look like it was generated/used/distributed in your home. You're opening yourself up to a no-knock raid because someone was distributing CSAM off your home ISP connection.
At least consider a real website of sorts (doesn't need fancy billing portal or anything, but something to represent a real business entity) and an AS/abuse email, "NOC" phone, real business registration, etc. You should probably have that anyways, set yourself up for some success and growth when you find it.
Pretty sure TensorDock lets you host through them - https://www.tensordock.com/host
I know the creator / owner has an account here on LET but can't remember his username, maybe someone can @ him so you can ask some more questions if needed
One thing to note is most of the countries people tend to host these 'GPU Farms' from have cheap electricity, it's the same with bitcoin mining but getting an ROI is going to be very dependent on how much you're actually paying for the power and how efficient / powerful your hardware is
This looks like a question for chat gpt if you ask me
@lentro
TensorDock host requirement: "IMPORTANT: The host node must be hosted in an actual data center to ensure the best possible uptime"
cf. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdR2av_x2sD4b0INiihcqFyuWe1ZbitD6hNmxtKPj-UCHpoKA/viewform
vast.ai let individual become a host easily: https://vast.ai/hosting
Cloud PC like shells.com, maybe.
Basement is a necessity to store equipment. Under bed for extra points.
If you're planning to do it on your home internet connection, don't do it. People will take advantage of the residential IP for all kinds of things. Think of it like running a tor exit node.
Your future guests knocks on the door instead of using the doorbell.
Other than that, you're good to go.
You could route over a tunnel and discuss with the endpoint how to handle abuse or have the customer setup their vpn and firewall anything else. Any sane residential ISP would cut you off. Having a closer circle and let them offer a round of beers as monthly payment would be more ideal. There's quite some admin overhead and due diligence for starting
@FlorinMarian can help with some good advice for a problem-free setup.