Explain what Amazon EC2 is, and can I use it as a web hosting service? [closed]

Question

I want to buy an Amazon EC2 instance, is it possible to use it as a web host? Like what other standard web host do. Is it recommended for web hosting? The truth is, I just want to learn this technology. So I'm thinking that I'll just host my website using Amazon EC2 to learn the cloud. And I have projects in the future and I'm planning to use Amazon EC2. But I still don't have any idea on what it is and how to use it.

Is it really cheaper than what other hosters provide?

Perhaps you can give me a starting point. Right now, I'm reading the docs in Amazon. But I think you guys can provide me with smarter answers.

Answer 1

EC2 is a cloud computing service. Essentially, you boot up an image which is activated at a node computer in the Amazon cloud.

I want to buy an Amazon EC2 instance, is it possible to use it as a web host? Like what other standard web host do. Is it recommended for web hosting?

Yes it is possible. It could be recommended for web hosting, but I believe for small sites, it is overkill.

Is it really cheaper than what other hosters provide?

Its on the high end with a minimum cost of $50/month. Though it is supposed to be economical on the high-end.

There are several other offerings similar to EC2. You may want to try Google AppEngine, and some others online.

Answer 2

It functions like any other web host except that it is transient. If you shut down the instance (or it crashes), your data is gone. However, this isn't a problem if you persist data off-cloud or use one of Amazons persistence options. Look into EC2+EBS.

You pay for what you use, so the answer to cost is that it is probably cheaper, but it depends entirely on your application. The AWS costs are well documented.

The real advantage of cloud computing is the ability to expand and contract infrastructure based on the real-time demands of your application. A small or very dynamic infrastructure is probably cheaper in the cloud whereas a large stable infrastructure is probably cheaper in a traditional data center.