Research Overview

This research collection explores different approaches to setting up self-hosted AI environments on AWS EC2 instances. These guides provide detailed instructions for deploying models like Llama 3, Mistral, DeepSeek, and others on cost-effective GPU instances, enabling powerful AI capabilities without recurring SaaS subscription fees.

Research Collection

Comparative Analysis

Platform Recommended Instance Monthly Cost (8h/day) Best For
Gemini g5.xlarge ~$86 (Spot) Development environment with code-server integration
Flowith g5.4xlarge ~$262 Production environment for larger models (up to 30B)
DeepSeek g4dn.xlarge ~$205 Specialized DeepSeek coder models
Grok g6.xlarge ~$193-201 Latest generation GPU performance (NVIDIA L4)
Manus g4dn.xlarge or g5.xlarge ~$75-205 Comprehensive deployment with security focus

Key Insights

All approaches demonstrate significant cost savings compared to subscription AI services, especially when implementing auto-shutdown features during idle periods. Using spot instances can further reduce costs by 60-70%. The g4dn.xlarge offers good value for smaller models, while g5.xlarge/g5.4xlarge provide better performance for larger models or higher throughput requirements.

Best Practices

Implementing Nginx with SSL certificates ensures secure access, while auto-shutdown scripts during off-hours minimize costs. Docker containerization simplifies deployment and maintenance across different server configurations.

Looking for Other Resources?

Check out my other technical guides and documentation: