[harrygeez]

> Why isn't there an easy way to utilize my unused hardware for my production servers

It's not that difficult if you know some Linux and router configuration. Most of the time the difficult part will be exposing your computer to the Internet as you probably don't have a fixed IP

[fm2606]

Would reverse SSH-ing from the laptops to a VPS with a static IP solve this problem? It sounds like OP would still be using AWS so he could set up a permanent IP there and then reverse SSH.

I have $5/month VPS which I use for this reason though my home IP address is static. My use case is simply for messing around and nothing that has to be up and running 24/7. Power outage/flicker has been the biggest issue for me.

[harrygeez]

Interesting... This is actually the first time I heard of reverse SSH. But if my understanding is correct then it should solve the problem theoretically.

Using AWS will give you a static IP, but if you ask me that's a little overkill if your purpose is only for getting a static IP. If you have a domain name some registrars like Namecheap offers DDNS service for free. Or you could just use a free service like no-ip or DuckDNS

[grocketeer]

Yes it might, though I wasn’t aware that SSH sessions ought to / are capable of living for long periods of time.