You don't need a dedicated server anymore. (ngrok)

Today i would like to share some knowledge with you guys, because a lot of us believe we need a dedicated server to run services like faucets, wallets, casinos, and other stuff... But today you will learn a cool way to do it.

The answer is, you only need a computer or a raspberry pi.

As you know, when we connect to our modem we are working on a LAN, and our devices are not open to the public, if we go to a site like https://whatismyipaddress.com/ we will see the public IP, and when we look at what device is linked to that IP we will realize it's our modem. So, the old method to make from a local PC a server was the next one:

1.-Open our modem configuration
2.-Take down our firewall
3.-Set one device (our pc) as DMZ
4.-Asign a domain with NoIP (If our IP was dynamic then this option was awesome)

But the problem with that is the security, taking down our firewall is a terrible idea for many reasons, the last time i did this i was getting around 30 attacks/minute on my server. Most of them Brutforce on SSH and FTP.

And now we have better ways to do this, without taking down our firewall or configuring the DNZ on our server we can use a tool called NGROK.

1.-Run your program/service, for example, a JSnode on port 3500
2.-ngrok config add-authtoken <TOKEN>
3.-ngrok http http://localhost:3500

And we will get a link like: https://84c5df47465423.ngrok-free.dev

As you see it comes with SSL, which is awesome, right?

That way anyone can make a private service a public one, it applies to any protocol.

I hope this information helps the developers in the community, next time you want to share a project with your clients or want to make public a service that you have running on your local PC, you can do with ngrok for free.

https://ngrok.com/docs/getting-started/

you sign different papers on agreement with provider when order static ip than ones you have to sign for a regular connection. This means some of those who use your stuff will be banned dude.

Quote from: alexeyneu on June 21, 2024, 11:02:48 PM

you sign different papers on agreement with provider when order static ip than ones you have to sign for a regular connection. This means some of those who use your stuff will be banned dude.

ngrok seems to be a reverse proxy, and while I've never heard of that one before, I do know that if it's anything like Cloudflare then you should get the IP address from them and your real IP be hidden.

You shouldn't rely on ngrok for anything important. Maybe make a fun page for you and your colleges, but for production, this would be a nightmare.

Forget about security. It's problematic in terms of performance. If a few dozens of clients start connecting with your machine, it will quickly become slower and might even stop operating. You'll have to upgrade to a paid plan. So why not paying for shared or dedicated hosting instead?

Good for a small private thing, not good for a 'real' service.
You should always use right tool for the job, trying to run a service behind a proxy like this while useful will never be anywhere close to as good as running something on a dedicated platform somewhere.

And, as @alexeyneu pointed out a lot of providers have clauses about you running things like servers on their networks unless you pay for a better plan.

-Dave

Quote from: seoincorporation on June 21, 2024, 10:44:28 PM

You cant be serious? Cheesy

Dont get me wrong, I appreciate you trying to help by sharing information, but we should be careful not to mislead folks. A Raspberry Pi has its place as a neat little device to tinker with, but comparing it to a serious server for financial services would be quite a stretch. Its like putting a tricycle up against a monster truck! Sure, maybe a Pi could limp along for a super small startup. But real servers bring some heavyweight power - tons more muscle for data crunching, much needed security features, and near 100% uptime and that matters hugely for anything handling money or private customer data.

Now could a Pi be a decent way for an absolute beginner to get their feet wet in basic website hosting? Certainly, why not. But for any real, mission-critical operation you need to roll in a hardcore server, with all its bells and whistles. These things exist for a reason!

Quote from: Stalker22 on June 22, 2024, 07:42:46 PM

Sure, maybe a Pi could limp along for a super small startup.

Not near a small startup. Not even in table for discussion. Running web server in a Raspberry Pi makes sense only if you'll be its only user. For example, if you're running a smart home, or connecting to a Bitcoin or Lightning node when you're not in home. And even then, when you're the only user, it might still have connectivity issues due to insufficient resources.

If you're a beginner, just rent a VPS or shared web hosting.

Quote from: seoincorporation on June 21, 2024, 10:44:28 PM

But the problem with that is the security, taking down our firewall is a terrible idea for many reasons, the last time i did this i was getting around 30 attacks/minute on my server. Most of them Brutforce on SSH and FTP.

Why would you take down your firewall? Anyone who have tried renting VPS or server know it's very common occurrence. Besides, you can configure your firewall to only accept connection from certain port or IP address.