This post will cover how to set up a machine from scratch, set up R, RStudio Server, Shiny Server, and a few other helpful features on a brand new DO droplet (remember: droplet = your machine in the cloud).

:) (2017 update: I’m not longer a student, but I do still love the pricing of this service!) And it turns out that it’s very convenient for hosting my own RStudio Server and anything else I’d like to host, and very affordable even for my student self. She told me that she doesn’t have a solution for me, but that I should check out DigitalOcean, so I did. I only found out about DO a couple of months ago when I asked my supervisor, Jenny Bryan, if there was a way for me to do some R-ing when I’m away from my machine. Check out my DO droplet to see it in action! Use my referral link to get $10 in credits, which is enough to give you a private server for your first 2 months. For example, take a look at my Shiny Server to see how useful this can be.ĭigitalOcean provides virtual private servers (they call each server a droplet), which means that you can pay $5/month to have your own server “in the cloud” that you can access from anywhere and host anything on.

If you’ve always wanted to have an RStudio Server of your own so that you can access R from anywhere, or your own Shiny Server to host your awesome shiny apps or Rmarkdown documents, DigitalOcean (DO) can help you get there easily. If you want help setting up your Shiny Server, a 1-on-1 walk-through or tutorial, or just general consultation about using Shiny Server, I’m available for hire.

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