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Paul Taylor
Paul Taylor

Reputation: 13210

AWS:Could I use spot instance instead of shutting down/starting up on-demand instance

I have a linux machine (m3.large) configured to do database processing maybe 4 consecutive days a month, and I have an 120 Gb volume that has my data, applications ectera stored. Then for the rest of the time I stop the instance, so I only pay for the machine for 4 days a month, I pay for the 120gb volume 24 hours a day but the cost of this is low compared with running the machine.

Because I only use the machine for a few days a month reserved instance would be no good for me, but I wonder if I could use Spot instance. It wouldnt matter to me if the machine was not exactly the same as m3.large as long as it was approximate.

What I was concerned about was having to setup the machine every time (i.e install my code, database ectera) , but if I have my own volume could I just link that to the new machine or is it tied to the particular instance I currently have running. i.e if i terminate (rather than just stopping ) my current instance will the volume also be deleted or can I reuse with another (spot) instance ?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 63

Answers (1)

Moe
Moe

Reputation: 2842

Nope - spot instances will only turn on when the price matches your bid price. if you don't care when the instanceis up, spot is good, however if there is ever going to be a time where you need the instance it might not spawn up if the price is not right.

check this out: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/how-spot-instances-work.html

You can have your files on an EBS and mount it every time the instance starts: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ebs-attaching-volume.html

Upvotes: 1

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