Ubuntu Offers “Official” AMI’s on EC2

      by Wyatt Walter

Ubuntu is now offering images of its Ubuntu Server operating system to EC2 users. The program is still in beta, but allows EC2 users to launch “official” images of the operating system created by Canonical (the makers of Ubuntu)  running within minutes for use on Amazon’s EC2 cloud computing platform. Before, one was either on their own to create their Ubuntu AMIs or rely upon someone in the community to open their AMI’s to the public to be launched. Canonical has also said it will maintain security patches on the AMIs so a freshly launch image will be fully patched as well.

This move should reduce the barrier to entry into Ubuntu for those considering it because there’s very little that has to be invested in getting the OS ready to use. It’s free to sign up for Amazon AWS (of which EC2 is a part of) and for the Ubuntu beta program. The only thing that has a cost associated with it is to actually run an instance. If you are only wanting to try out Ubuntu Server, you can run a small instance for 10 cents an hour. You can run a pre-configured instance for just $2.40 a day. Of course, Amazon AWS is not just for the curious, but it can’t be beat on price for someone who wants to stand up a temporary environment to do some testing. I’ve seen a number of products like Virtualmin using EC2 AMIs to demo their software and it just makes sense. If I wanted to demo Ubuntu in the traditional way, for instance, I’d have to download the .iso, stand up a virtual machine or find a physical machine to install on. After all that work it may not be anything like what I wanted. Now, I just use my EC2 account and launch an AMI and in moments am up and running with whatever software I need. Like I said, it’s not just great for demoing software, but leveraging EC2 in that way just makes sense and is a great move for Ubuntu.

For more information check out the beta sign-up page and their Ubuntu on EC2 quick start guide.

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Filed under News, Tech Trends : Comments (2) : Jan 21st, 2009

2 Responses to “Ubuntu Offers “Official” AMI’s on EC2”

  1. Ubuntu Offers “Official” AMI’s on EC2 | Ubuntu-News Says:
    January 22nd, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    [...] makers of Ubuntu) running within minutes for use on Amazon’s EC2 cloud computing platform. More here Before, one was either on their own to create their Ubuntu AMIs or rely upon someone in the [...]

  2. Ubuntu 9.10 Server to Focus on Cloud Computing | What a n00b! Says:
    February 21st, 2009 at 1:16 am

    [...] started offering official AMI’s to run on EC2 just a short time ago and is planning on building out its list of images to allow users to deploy [...]

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