Server options for development

[Harvs]

I'm in a spot of a pickle at the moment with a job I'm working on.

It involves an embedded system sending and receiving data from a server via GPRS modem (and I'm doing the embedded bit.)  Now normally I'd plok a spare PC on the network in my workshop, open a port to it in my router to the wide world and setup whatever test scripts I needed on it to monitor/test the embedded device.

Now the problem is with the recent bushfires here we lost all copper ADSL lines, so I'm running on a 3G internet service for my main internet connection at the moment.  I don't pretend to know much about IT, but apparently the connection for the 3G modems sit in their own VPN (or something) which mean you never get a proper public IP, and therefore you can't setup a server on one (i.e. it's impossible to initiate a connection from a remote device to an device sitting on a 3G internet connection.)

So I'm after any idea's for how I might get around this issue for development.  Again, my IT knowledge isn't that great (due to lack of interest) but a bit of googling has turned up something called a VPS (virtual private server.)  Does anyone know what the low down is?  Is it pretty much a virtual machine with a clean linux install you can SSH into and install what you want (in my case, a LAMP install and probably some python scripts.)  Or any better ideas?

Thanks

[sleemanj]

Amazon EC2 is the answer, cheap as chips, as puny or as powerful as you want, charged per hour effectively, if you only need the smallest one, they have a free tier.

http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/

[Harvs]

Mate that's awesome.  Thanks for the pointer...

[Kohanbash]

I have also used the EC2's and they are a good deal. If you are on a paying tier there are random fees (based on access locations, disk usage, etc..) that make you pay a little more then the default rate for the unit, but they are still a good deal.

In the US (and probably elsewhere) you can get a static IP on a 3G/4G modem for a monthly fee which gives you a proper public IP which can be used for a server. Some providers will also charge an up front service fee to add the static IP to your account.

[johnwa]

I think a VPS is probably the best bet for this application. However, I believe Internode offer static IPs on 3G connections if you want to go that way.

[Harvs]

Thanks all, in this case I've got a reserved instance on EC2 now and it really is just what I needed.

Infact it's going to be very flexible for this situation, and very cost effective at $0.012AUD hour.  Practically nothing in the scheme of things.  I think I'll probably do it this way in the future.  Just not having to go through the hassle of setting up a PC, finding bench space and doing a clean linux install is worth the negligible cost.