CON-1518/CON-1077: Host docs IA + headless handover

[jjziets]

Summary

This draft supersedes #152 as the final Host Docs handover branch. It rolls the CON-1518 Host docs IA/sidebar restructure together with the CON-1077 headless install guide so reviewers can use one PR as the source of truth.

This PR includes:

• lifecycle-based Host sidebar: Before You Host -> Set Up -> Verify & List -> Operate -> Reference, plus CLI and SDK reference groups
• persona treatment across the authored Host pages, including frontmatter and visible chips for Pro Operator, Headless / DC, Business, and Hobbyist tracks
• split/expanded Host journey pages for the P0/P1/P2 CON-1518 backlog, including supported hardware, quickstart, network/ports, storage, self-test reference, payouts/payment, reliability, maintenance, fleet operations, workload policy, glossary, and community
• CON-1256 business/pricing/listing coverage, including the attached host optimization guide topics folded into host/optimization-guide.mdx
• the CON-1077 headless install path for SSH/BMC/IPMI operators, including driver prep, XFS/project-quota storage, TUI install, raw headless fallback, service checks, and self-test handoff
• updated direct-port guidance using about 100 ports per listed GPU, for example 40000-40799 for an 8-GPU host

CON-1256 / Host Optimization Guide Coverage

The attached vast_optimization_guide_for_hosts.html has been mapped into the docs rather than copied verbatim. The public docs now cover:

• market position: price x occupancy, verification/duration/disk filters, and comparable listings
• duration tradeoffs, customer duration segments, auto-extend, and contract commitment risk
• on-demand price, interruptible minimum bid, disk pricing, bandwidth pricing, and total-revenue framing
• min_gpu / min_chunk behavior, including powers-of-two listing options and fleet mix guidance
• listing competitiveness: drivers, self-test, verification, reliability, datacenter status, and approved facility/compliance claims

Validation

• git diff --check -> passed
• Authored Host persona coverage check -> 35/35 pages have personas: frontmatter and visible persona chips
• npx --yes mint@4.2.647 validate -> passed after the CON-1256 guide follow-up
• Local Mintlify preview from this branch -> http://localhost:3334
• HTTP checks for /host/headless-install, /host/optimization-guide, and /host/network-ports -> 200 OK
• CON-1077 live dogfood covered the reprovisioned bare-metal Ubuntu 24.04 prep flow through driver and storage setup:
  • installed Ubuntu-recommended nvidia-driver-595-open
  • verified 8 RTX 4090 GPUs on driver 595.71.05
  • enabled persistence mode
  • reformatted the disposable data LV as XFS
  • mounted it at /var/lib/docker with project quota accounting/enforcement ON

Remaining Review Gates

• Solutions Engineering/business stakeholder review for CON-1256 sales-process alignment and final wording around pricing/listing optimization
• CON-1531 source-owner confirmation for the machine-error catalog, field mapping, clearing/TTL/heartbeat behavior, and public vs. internal messages
• approval or replacement of the Host Installer Wizard screenshot asset
• source-owner review for GPU-family coverage, installer wording/assets, OS/cgroup guidance, payment/tax edge cases, datacenter requirements, and the future full vericode table
• reviewer decision to close CON-1518: Host docs IA mockup updates #152 as superseded once this PR is accepted as the final handover target

Notes

#152 was merged into this branch in b81f5c2ccc76d2f069fa2aee3a3da704e43d88ac, with #153 kept as the final review/handoff PR.

The Vast TUI install itself still requires a fresh setup-page machine installation key. This PR documents the TUI path and headless fallback, but the latest live CON-1077 run stopped before install when the supplied key was rejected as an invalid user key.

[jjziets]

Handoff update: this PR now rolls in #152 and should be treated as the final review target for the Host Docs handover.

Branch/head: b81f5c2ccc76d2f069fa2aee3a3da704e43d88ac

Validation just rerun from the #153 checkout:

• git diff --check -> passed
• authored Host persona coverage -> 35/35 pages have personas: frontmatter and visible chips
• npx --yes mint@4.2.647 validate -> passed
• local preview -> http://localhost:3334
• /host/headless-install, /host/optimization-guide, and /host/network-ports -> 200 OK

Remaining gates are review/owner confirmations rather than local implementation blockers: Gobind/business review, CON-1531 machine-error source-owner confirmation, screenshot approval/replacement, and edge-case source-owner review for GPU families, installer wording/assets, OS/cgroup, payment/tax, datacenter requirements, and future vericode expansion.

[jjziets]

CON-1256 guide follow-up pushed in 3c6ed790489e3a9ab90f76aa47519193cca729ef.

I found the saved guide as vast_optimization_guide_for_hosts.html and folded its remaining unique points into host/optimization-guide.mdx instead of copying it verbatim:

• renter filters: verification, duration, disk space
• duration customer segments and auto-extend
• contract commitment / penalty risk wording linked to the Hosting Agreement
• min-bid floor vs. on-demand price warning
• disk/bandwidth constrained-resource pricing guidance
• min_gpu powers-of-two listing behavior and fleet mix examples
• approved datacenter / facility / compliance claim wording

Validation rerun after this change: git diff --check and npx --yes mint@4.2.647 validate both passed.

Remaining CON-1256 item is now review alignment, not a known docs coverage gap: please add the relevant Solutions Engineering/business stakeholder reviewer for sales-process positioning and final wording.