5 ms·

Are Consumers Worried Enough to Buy a Personal Computer Server?

19 points by ihsoj 8y ago

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
karmakaze 8y ago
> The Helm device costs $499. That includes 128 gigabytes of local storage and the first year of email, calendar, contacts and a web domain for multiple users. It’s $99 a year after that. I wouldn't run any such 'personal' hardware if it still depended on a centralized service. What does that $99/year even used for that can't be run on the device itself?
- dan_hawkins 8y ago
  > What does that $99/year even used for that can't be run on the device itself? For the public gateway service in case your ISP bans (mail) servers on their network.
- m-p-3 8y ago
  I would guess it's to make the device maintenance sustainable, providing a revenue stream to the company to keep providing support and system/security updates for an extended period of time.
- MrLeap 8y ago
  I was intrigued by this device when I first read about it. This should be on the "alternative path" to MRR focused digital landlords, but instead it's just the same damn thing...? The rent seeking in this industry is disgusting.
- gsreenivas 8y ago
  Hi there - co-founder and CEO of Helm here. It covers domain registrations, DNS records, the security gateway with a static IP that works around residential ISP limitations and storage for offsite encrypted backups. None of these would be able to run on the device itself.
tomatotomato37 8y ago
What advantage does the Helm hardware have over an old Dell tower left over after an office/school upgrade?
- spaceflunky 8y ago
  Seconded. Why can’t I just run helm on an old rig?
- gsreenivas 8y ago
  Good question - tightly integrated hardware based security. To support secure boot, full disk encryption and ensure keys are well protected, we utilize a security chip in the SoC. This protects your data in the event of theft.
zeruch 8y ago
The last few years I have suspected this idea would eventually take off...but I'm not sure it's quite there yet (and still requires more transparency than this is offering).
- gsreenivas 8y ago
  Quite a bit more transparency is coming - we will be publishing a series of posts going into more detail of how this works. In addition, we will be open sourcing quite a bit.

19 points by ihsoj 8y ago

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

> The Helm device costs $499. That includes 128 gigabytes of local storage and the first year of email, calendar, contacts and a web domain for multiple users. It’s $99 a year after that. I wouldn't run any such 'personal' hardware if it still depended on a centralized service. What does that $99/year even used for that can't be run on the device itself?

dan_hawkins 8y ago
> What does that $99/year even used for that can't be run on the device itself? For the public gateway service in case your ISP bans (mail) servers on their network.
m-p-3 8y ago
I would guess it's to make the device maintenance sustainable, providing a revenue stream to the company to keep providing support and system/security updates for an extended period of time.
MrLeap 8y ago
I was intrigued by this device when I first read about it. This should be on the "alternative path" to MRR focused digital landlords, but instead it's just the same damn thing...? The rent seeking in this industry is disgusting.
gsreenivas 8y ago
Hi there - co-founder and CEO of Helm here. It covers domain registrations, DNS records, the security gateway with a static IP that works around residential ISP limitations and storage for offsite encrypted backups. None of these would be able to run on the device itself.

tomatotomato37 8y ago

What advantage does the Helm hardware have over an old Dell tower left over after an office/school upgrade?

spaceflunky 8y ago
Seconded. Why can’t I just run helm on an old rig?
gsreenivas 8y ago
Good question - tightly integrated hardware based security. To support secure boot, full disk encryption and ensure keys are well protected, we utilize a security chip in the SoC. This protects your data in the event of theft.

zeruch 8y ago

The last few years I have suspected this idea would eventually take off...but I'm not sure it's quite there yet (and still requires more transparency than this is offering).

gsreenivas 8y ago
Quite a bit more transparency is coming - we will be publishing a series of posts going into more detail of how this works. In addition, we will be open sourcing quite a bit.