Should I use a regular server instead of AWS?

Reading about and using the Amazon Web Services, I'm not really able to grasp how to use it correctly. Sorry about the long question:

I have a EC2 instance which mostly does the work of a web server (apache for file sharing and Tomcat with Play Framework for the web app). As it's a web server, the instance is running 24/7.

It just came to my attention that the data on the EC2 instance is non persistent. This means I lose my database and files if it's stopped. But I guess it also means my server settings and installed applications are lost as they are just files in the same way as the other data.

This means that I will either have to rewrite the whole app to use amazon CloudDB or write some code which stores the db on S3 and make my own AMI with the correct applications installed and configured. Or can this be quick-fixed by using EBS somehow?

My question is 1. is my understanding of aws is correct? a开发者_如何学Cnd 2. is it's worth it? It could be a possibility to just set up a regular dedicated server where everything is persistent, as you would expect. Would love to have the scaleability of aws though..

If you use an EBS volume with your EC2 instance, you can mount/dismount them to have persistent storage. You can also use Amazon RDS to handle your database too which is handy (but can be slightly on the pricier side.)

So a way to think of it is:

Your EC2 instance: Get the OS set up exactly like you'd like it along with your web application - basically, get your static stuff all in place.

EBS volume: That can be mounted and can be used for things like user uploads.

RDS instance: This is a dedicated database server with no hassles. It's nice - I use a MySQL RDS and it automatically makes two daily backups, and is scalable like EC2 instances.

Amazon Web Service is a better approach at hosting your applications Jon. You have a basic understand of AWS but you need to know that you can also launch an instance that is persistent. Just launch an instance of a persistence AMI. Also you can install you database,webs server on the instance like a regular server. There is probably just minimal differences from running an Ec2 instance and a dedicated server. If you have any other questions you can contact me.