Arch in the cloud: looking for recommendations

acottrell · 2023-05-27 23:34:15

I've taken a look at https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_Linux_on_a_VPS and it's quite helpful, but I'd appreciate any recommendations based on experience.

Context: I'm retiring from an academic position where I've had a desktop machine running Arch, on a T1 line. I can keep the machine but from now on I'll be on relatively slow DSL. I want a machine with a fast connection on which I can compile releases and snapshots of the open-source project on which I work (and will continue to work in retirement), and upload them to sourceforge. Renting a VPS sounds like a possibility but I have no experience of such things.

Last edited by acottrell (2023-05-27 23:35:29)

Lone_Wolf · 2023-05-28 12:15:00

Slow DSL here is considered 50 Mbps down/ 20 Mbps up . Last time I used a T1 line (approx 15 years ago) it was a 1.5 Mbps synchronous connection .
Are you sure your DSL connection is slower then the T1 line ?

A big part of the price is how powerful the VPS needs to be.

How much memory and threads does the oss project require to build ?

example :
I regularly build llvm trunk, mesa trunk and openmw trunk versions on a 12/24 core machine with 16 GiB memory .
Build times (with an empty ccache ) are 60 minutes for llvm trunk, 10-15 minutes for mesa trunk and less then 10 minutes for openmw trunk .

Increasing the memory to 32 GiB would speed up things, but the number of cores / threads has more impact .
(a user with a 4/8 procesoor and 32 Gib memory reports 3+ hours as buildtime for llvm trunk )

Trilby · 2023-05-28 12:50:01

I second the above points: even if you have a slow DSL, I can't imagine network bandwidth for downloading source code and uploading a compiled binary would be anywhere near the limiting factor in a build process.

And is retrieving source code even an issue? If it's a project you work on, I'd suspect you'd have a local copy through whatever VCS is used - incremental pulls of others' changes should not require notable bandwidth. So are we just talking about the bandwidth needed for uploading built binary tarballs?

If this is a very large software project, the build itself is likely resource intensive, and at that point VPSs can get expensive. I use (and love) Linode for a VPS for a web and email server (and some other tinkering projects) - but there is nothing remotely computationally intesive about running a web and email server, so Linode's lowest tier works great and is dirt cheap.

Any time saved in uploading would be a drop in the bucket (or less) compared to the amount of time needed to build a huge project on a lower-tier VPS. And if you are considering the larger / higher-end VPSs, then it still may not make sense as upgrading your home internet may be much cheaper.

So all together - it's hard to imagine a VPS meeting your needs at all. However, if this is incorrect, perhaps you could elaborate on your needs and why / how uploading tarballs of compiled binaries is a limiting factor.

Last edited by Trilby (2023-05-28 12:53:02)

ua4000 · 2023-05-28 12:51:32

Hello acottrell,
do you seek more info's about possible VM providers (which county?), and what virtualization is suited best for you (KVM, QUEM, XEN) ?
Or more a guide, which cpu/ram you need, as outlined by Lone_Wolf on some examples ?
Do you need help on the setup of the VM ?
Or are you more interested, how to secure your VM, what to consider in comparison to a desktop machine ?

And as rough example: a VM with 10 cpu, 32GB ram, 1000GB storage will cost you ~32 EUR per month in Germany.

Arch Linux

#1 2023-05-27 23:34:15

Arch in the cloud: looking for recommendations

#2 2023-05-28 12:15:00

Re: Arch in the cloud: looking for recommendations

#3 2023-05-28 12:50:01

Re: Arch in the cloud: looking for recommendations

#4 2023-05-28 12:51:32

Re: Arch in the cloud: looking for recommendations

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