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What do you use for monitoring stock on sold-out budget plans?

Deals & Offers by tinaworm 17 replies 1.6K views
tinaworm

Member OP

#1

I require a HostHatch $3.50 instance. It has been sold out for eleven days. I am unwilling to pay $6.50 for the next tier.

My requirements:

  • Price ceiling: $4.00 monthly
  • Region: any European location
  • Purpose: secondary DNS and offsite rsync target

I have attempted manual checking four times daily. This is inefficient. I am considering automation.

What do you use for monitoring stock on sold-out budget plans? I prefer Python or shell solutions. I do not require notifications to mobile devices.

-t

worst bandwidth, best stories
pauloserver

Member

#2

I am use python with requests, check every 5 minutes

This is my script, send to telegram when html change

Before I am use that beautiful soup thing but crash when they change layout

Going to share? I help you

But going to warn you: go too fast and they are ban your ip, happen to my friend

chill infrastructure for chill people 🦫
bellaauc

Member

3-2-1 Believer

#3

Oh honey, before you automate anything—did you test your restore from that rsync target you're planning?

I know it's not what you asked, but here's my checklist for budget monitoring setups:

  • Script checks every 15+ min (be kind to their server)
  • Separate notification channel for "stock" vs "price drop"
  • Log every check to a file you actually review

Remember the 3-2-1 rule even for monitoring data: 3 copies, 2 media, 1 offsite. Your script logs matter too.

@tinaworm What's your actual recovery time objective? If DNS is critical, maybe waiting isn't the right risk tradeoff.

3-2-1 or you're already dead
reykjavik_doc

Member

container skeptic

1 #4

Actually docker is just cron in a worse hat

I run my stock checker as a systemd timer on my home server. No containers. No þing þat needs 400MB of overlayfs for 20 lines of python

My unit file:

[Timer]
OnCalendar=*:0/15
Persistent=true

The restock page returns 200 with "out of stock" or 200 with "add to cart". I þrew a 5 second sleep between requests because I am not a monster

Someone on reddit posted their docker-compose with 3 selenium containers hitting the page every 30 seconds. They got null-routed. Þe provider posted about it on status.hetzner.com. Þat is what docker does to your brain

Hana5

Member

GPU poor

#5

Eleven days sold out is normal for vela? I thought they restock weekly

8-char NTLM found in 4min 32sec
tinaworm

Member OP

#6

@bellaauc RTO for DNS is "whenever I notice". The secondary is backup to my primary at home. If both die I have bigger problems.

@reykjavik_doc systemd timer is clean. Do you diff the full page or just grep for a string? I worry about false positive when they change layout, like pauloserver said.

@Hana5 I do not know if eleven days is normal. This is my first time waiting.

worst bandwidth, best stories
kate3

Member

2 #7

@tinaworm If you only need secondary DNS and rsync, why HostHatch specifically? Hetzner has a 4 EUR CX11 in Falkenstein and Helsinki. That is inside your ceiling if you count 4.00 USD.

Their auction servers sometimes drop below 4 EUR too. Different product line, I know. But you said "any European location" and "price ceiling 4.00" without specifying currency.

virsh list --all | wc -l: 47
pauloserver

Member

#8

@tinaworm I am change my script to check for string "out of stock" in button class. Before I check full html and get many false alarm when they add cookie banner

My friend get ban because he use 30 second with no user-agent. I am use 5 minute and real browser header. No problem 3 months

I can share but is very mess, many comment in portuguese

chill infrastructure for chill people 🦫
reykjavik_doc

Member

container skeptic

8 #9

@tinaworm I grep for "add to cart" in a span with id. It broke once in two years when they renamed the span, took me ten minutes to fix. Full page diff would have caught it anyway but I prefer the noise.

Docker would have made that ten minutes into forty because I would be debugging volume mounts instead.

@kate3 Hetzner is EUR not USD. At current rate 4 EUR is about 4.35 USD. Still inside ceiling but tight.

Hana5

Member

GPU poor

#10

Eleven days is nothing. I wait three weeks for HostHatch Tokyo stock before. Their budget plan is popular with Chinese resellers who buy many.

My electricity in Tokyo is 28 yen per kWh. Your 5 minute check on raspberry pi is maybe 2 watt? I am not calculate but is nothing. My GPU rig is 800 watt. That is war crime.

8-char NTLM found in 4min 32sec

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