What AWS Configuration Should We Use In Production?

I have been researching AWS. It seems a little confusing to me. We want a single box for production purposes before we go live. It will have MySQL, SVN, Java, and a few other custom attributes.

1) What features of AWS sh开发者_C百科ould I sign up for if we are only developing - not live. Can you suggest a configuration? We are looking to keep our costs as low as possible right now.

2) Is it possible to get an instance with pre-bundled stuff like SVN and MySQL? Where do i Look?

3) What instance type should I be selecting if we are only developing? Here are my choices: http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/instance-types/

4) Which would be more cost-effective for us - reserved or on-demand? I suppose on-demand would be cheap because we have no traffic other than dev stuff but I like that the reserved instances will let me know what I will be spending ahead of time. Anybody have any experience here?

Thanks.

1) You probably want to start with EC2. After that you can have a look at for example S3.

2) Yes, in the AWS Management Console for EC2 search for ready-built AMIs (Amazon Machine Image) that contain what you need pre-configured.

3) You can start with Micro instances which are the cheapest. Note though that they are 32-bit only. When you feel Micro instances are too limiting (need more memory or CPU power), just switch up to the Small instance type.

4) The only way to know if Reserved instances are cheaper than On-Demand for your use case is to estimate the number of hours of each instance type you expect to consume during the next 1 or 3 years, and compare the cost in dollars of the two options. If your development instances are left running over night (i.e., they are running around the clock), then most certainly Reserved instances will be cheaper if you are sure you will keep using AWS for at least 1 or 3 years.

I want to add a few things to @Seppo's answer.

• I would not start with a reserved instance. What if you reserve an instance and then it turns out to be not suitable. Test it first (even if its only for a few hours) on the normal pay as you go tariff. You can easily change the existing instance to a reserved instance later. Just by purchasing a reserved instance, you will change your billing rate on the existing instance.

• You do not have to run a reserved instance for the full year (or 3) to save money. You are not paying for the entire period up front - only a deposit - so you only need to run it for a few months (depending on the instance type) to break even.