Hi i just wanted to know if it is possible to host instance completely without renting anything.
if you have a video on it can you please share it here?
You can host an instance on any pc you can install stuff on or run docker containers on.
The issue, as the other commenter said, is that the computer needs to run so that it can catch and send federated stuff. Otherwise you are an island which can be a good usecase for a school or small company but not generally.
A probable usecase would be an old pc which you leave running or a raspberry pi. You route the federation ports through your router and nothing else. That way you have full federation and very few attack vectors. The most secure way to use it is locally on your network or by connecting via vpn.
thanks for replying
yes i will leave it on for days that i want to use that instance
The issue is once you turn it off, the federation attempts by other instances will fail and the software has an increasing „back off“ mechanic. That means after the first failed attempt the instances will wait eg an hour before reattempting federation, then two, then four, then eight, etc. this means if you turn it only on when you want to use it, your federation will only kick in after a huge amount of hours. That makes no sense, sadly.
