Linux boxes via SSH: suspended when disconected

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Positioning vs Other Services

  • Frequently compared to exe.dev, Fly Sprites, EC2, Hetzner/DigitalOcean VPSes, and runpod-style GPU offerings.
  • Core differentiator: stateful VMs that are automatically suspended on SSH disconnect and resumed exactly where you left off (including running processes and shell state), accessed purely via SSH.
  • Some argue EC2 (with hibernate) and standard VPSes already provide equivalent persistence, just with more manual management and UI friction.

Pricing and Value Proposition

  • Strong pushback on pricing: suspended cost is similar to or higher than running a small VPS 24/7 at other providers.
  • Many say they’d pay a modest premium for UX, but not 2–10x over commodity VPS.
  • Several note that a suspended VM should mainly cost disk; service could oversubscribe CPU/RAM heavily and thus be much cheaper.
  • Others counter that capacity still must be reserved for resumptions and spikes.
  • Creator acknowledges suspended pricing must be “significantly lower” and says they’ll revise it.

Use Cases and Perceived Fit

  • Supporters: good for long‑lived but infrequently accessed dev/debug sessions, learning labs, staging environments, or expensive GPU boxes you don’t want to accidentally leave running.
  • Skeptics: for general-purpose servers or cheap instances, a traditional VPS with tmux/screen is simpler and cheaper; suspension is not compelling unless it saves a lot of money.

Technical Design and Infrastructure

  • Implemented in Python using AsyncSSH, Firecracker VMs (no special memory optimizations yet), memory‑mapped RAM, Caddy for TLS, Paddle for billing.
  • Runs on large bare-metal machines, currently using Hetzner auction servers.
  • Some concern about provider ToS and abuse (e.g., crypto mining) and how incidents with downstream users would be handled; answers remain high-level.

UX, Features, and Gaps

  • Many like the pure-SSH workflow, CLI-based billing, and text-mode QR codes.
  • Confusion about onboarding (SSH key requirement, no obvious “sign up” button); requests for clearer docs/FAQ and bandwidth info.
  • Missing or WIP: SFTP support, ed25519 host keys hardening, “keep running while disconnected” toggle, preconfigured images/tooling, external storage backends (e.g., Dropbox), always-on/server use.

Payments and Alternatives

  • Paddle’s ~5% fee prompts suggestions of Lightning/crypto; others argue Paddle’s tax/VAT handling is worth the fee and Bitcoin/Lightning adds complexity and FX risk.
  • Multiple links to self-hosted or similar FOSS/container/tilde-style shells; some say rolling your own with LXD/containers is trivial for power users.