Compute Station Virtualisation

Introduction

Disposable Nodes need the Ubuntu operating system to run, if you CANNOT run Ubuntu directly on your device, then Virtual Machine is a good workaround.

You can rent virtual machines from many providers online and you can run virtual machine on your own computers.

The Virtual Machines must support Ubuntu Server 20.04 or 22.04, so a disposable node can be created instantly with just one command.

Location Declaration

All Hosted Station can only be hosted in data centres with declared location at least to the Region level.

For example, for oztralia.com all the Compute Stations are hosted in data centres in the following locations:

  1. Sydney, New South Wales (Australia)
  2. Beauharnois, Quebec (Canada)

Hosted Station Example

Although the preferred way is running Compute Station is on your own hardware on your home computers, hosting of them at compute infrastructure providers that have NOT conflict of interest can be a good solution in some use cases.

Referral Programs

A lot of these compute infrastructure providers have referral programs that will benefit the referrer and in some cases the referred also.

When you are helping others deploy disposable nodes, you can earn some EXTRA INCOME through these the referral programs.

Vultr Referral

Note referral programs can be complex. For example:

  1. We are given one referral code for Vultr which is
    https://www.vultr.com/?ref=6810271
    We get USD10, after the referred user has been active for 30+ days and has made at least USD10 in payments.

  2. We are given another referral code that pays more for higher spend:
    https://www.vultr.com/?ref=9119640-8H
    We get USD35 and the referred user get USD100 in credit, if the referred user has been active for 14+ days and has made at least USD35 in payments.

So which referrer code to use depends on the usage of individual referred customer.

Virtual Box

Virtual Box is available on Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS, currently Virtual Box is recommended since it is free, open sourced and actively being developed and deployed.

  1. Virtual Box Screen Shots
  2. Virtual Box Change Log

Try to use the latest version of Virtual Box if possible, although all versions from 6.1.0 (released 2019-12-10) onwards are supported.

Instructions

Installation of Ubuntu Server in your Virtual Box is preferred, but Ubuntu Desktop will also work.

References:

  • Ubuntu Server
  1. How to Install Ubuntu Server on VirtualBox ยท James Hibbard
  2. https://getlabsdone.com/how-to-install-ubuntu-20-04-server-on-virtualbox/
  • Ubuntu Desktop
  1. Install Ubuntu on Oracle VirtualBox
  2. How to run Ubuntu Desktop on a virtual machine using VirtualBox | Ubuntu

LXD

LXD System Containers provide a great alternative to Virtual Machines like KVM and VirtualBox.

OpenWrt