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Ask HN: Moving a not-for-profit web app off AWS

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Ask HN: Moving a not-for-profit web app off AWS

#1

Post by sjayasinghe »

I'm developing an app to help foreign Buddhist monks in Thailand learn Thai and Pali languages. The app incorporates LLMs for interactive learning, and I'm experimenting with spaced repetition techniques within chatbot interfaces and for long-form text memorization.

Right now I'm running everything on AWS, but the cost feels overkill for my current needs. Since my past professional background is in AWS, it was the default choice, but given that this project is currently funded through my own savings and I'm currently unemployed, I'm looking to minimize costs. Scalability isn't a concern as the user base is small.

Currently I'm using 3rd party LLM APIs, but in the future I may want to explore serving open-source models that I fine-tune specifically for language learning and Buddhist text exploration.

Does anyone have recommendations for budget friendly alternatives that would suit these needs? Ideally, something that could handle a future transition to self-hosted models if needed.

Also, if anyone has experience with applying spaced repetition or other memorization techniques to chatbot interfaces and long-form text retention, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Re: Ask HN: Moving a not-for-profit web app off AWS

#3

Post by lunarcave »

Have you tried applying to AWS Activate? I'm not sure whether they support non-profits, but if you can swing it, they'll subsidise your compute and some model costs.

In terms of a budget friendly alternatives, definitely look into fly.io. We have a AWS setup, but run some compute for ephemeral use cases in fly.io.

> Also, if anyone has experience with applying spaced repetition or other memorization techniques to chatbot interfaces and long-form text retention, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Have some experience with conversational experiences and LLMs. It all depends on what the modality of the interaction is. Is it something that users can have a long chat conversation with? Or is it more like the anki experience where "flashcards" get presented to you?

Re: Ask HN: Moving a not-for-profit web app off AWS

#6

Post by isoprophlex »

Few things beats a cheap, powerful Hetzner server, IMO. I host a LOT of stuff on my single €40/month box. 20 core, 64 gb ram, 1 TB ssd, unmetered network.

They have GPU-backed servers too, obviously theyre more expensive, and not ideal for your usecase maybe.

Modal is a good serverless alternative if you want to scale to zero and be able to handle spiky loads.

Re: Ask HN: Moving a not-for-profit web app off AWS

#7

Post by dcminter »

I'd think in terms of running this on a PC in my spare room if I was trying to keep costs down and the usage wasn't going to be all that high. Depending on how many concurrent users you're expecting, and if you do something with open source models, then Ollama running on a very not-top-tier GPU is likely to be a good bet.

Re: Ask HN: Moving a not-for-profit web app off AWS

#8

Post by dcminter »

isoprophlex wrote: post #6

Few things beats a cheap, powerful Hetzner server, IMO. I host a LOT of stuff on my single €40/month box. 20 core, 64 gb ram, 1 TB ssd, unmetered network. They have GPU-backed servers too, obviously theyre more expensive, and not ideal for your usecase maybe. Modal is a good serverless alternative if you want to scale to zero and be able to handle spiky loads.

Sounds like that might work for OP while they're using APIs, but if they decide to run models locally can you get GPU equipped servers from Hetzner?

Edit: Not sure if I misread, or if you edited, but I see you addressed this, and yes in that case sounds like this would be a good option if that kind of price range is ok.

Re: Ask HN: Moving a not-for-profit web app off AWS

#9

Post by akudha »

isoprophlex wrote: post #6

Few things beats a cheap, powerful Hetzner server, IMO. I host a LOT of stuff on my single €40/month box. 20 core, 64 gb ram, 1 TB ssd, unmetered network. They have GPU-backed servers too, obviously theyre more expensive, and not ideal for your usecase maybe. Modal is a good serverless alternative if you want to scale to zero and be able to handle spiky loads.

How smooth is the signup process? I remember reading they require passport copy etc, which makes me uncomfortable

Re: Ask HN: Moving a not-for-profit web app off AWS

#10

Post by rvz »

> Right now I'm running everything on AWS, but the cost feels overkill for my current needs. Since my past professional background is in AWS, it was the default choice, but given that this project is currently funded through my own savings and I'm currently unemployed, I'm looking to minimize costs. Scalability isn't a concern as the user base is small.

Given that this doesn't make any money, you might as well use local or self-hosted LLMs instead of cloud based LLMs.

AWS for this use-case (especially when you are not intending to make money) is indeed overkill.

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