sneakyBlog

Got this in my mailbox from Amazon this morning:

…

Just as Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) enables storage in the
cloud, Amazon EC2 enables “compute” in the cloud. Amazon EC2’s simple web
service interface allows you to obtain and configure capacity with minimal
friction. It provides you with complete control of your computing resources
and lets you run on Amazon’s proven computing environment. Amazon EC2
reduces the time required to obtain and boot new server instances to
minutes, allowing you to quickly scale capacity, both up and down, as your
computing requirements change. Amazon EC2 changes the economics of
computing by allowing you to pay only for capacity that you actually use.

…

This will definitely result in some very nifty new apps: no more fixed server costs, but truly dynamical, based on the amount of traffic you get. Every one says Google is the most innovative company when it comes to new web services. To the end-user, that’s perhaps the case. But I think Amazon is definitely surpassing Google when it comes to providing the services necessary for creating The Next Web 2.0 Killer app. First S3, now EC2. Amazon does have other web services available, but I think many will agree with me that these are the most revolutionary ones.
The main difference with Sun’s Grid Compute Utility is the scale: Sun’s Grid Compute Utility is basically ‘rent-a-grid’ on demand, while Amazon’s EC2 is more ‘rent-a-server’-esque.

Unfortunately this is a limited beta, and I was too late… I will definitely track EC2, also here at my blog. I bet it will be very beneficial for Amazon in the end! (In let’s say 5 years from now.)

UPDATE
I forgot to mention one of the main features: the price. The price is very reasonable (as is S3’s pricing scheme): $0.10/hour. That’s only $2.40 for a day. I’d say that’s incredibly cheap for keeping your website online during a traffic peek!

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