Announcing Amazon EC2 Spot Instances

Posted on: Dec 14, 2009

We are excited to announce the introduction of Amazon EC2 Spot Instances, a new way to purchase and consume Amazon EC2 Instances. Spot Instances allow customers to bid on unused Amazon EC2 capacity and run those instances for as long as their bid exceeds the current Spot Price. The Spot Price changes periodically based on supply and demand, and customers whose bids meet or exceed it gain access to the available Spot Instances. Spot Instances are complementary to On-Demand Instances and Reserved Instances, providing another option for obtaining compute capacity. If you have flexibility in when your applications can run, Spot Instances can significantly lower your Amazon EC2 costs. Additionally, Spot Instances can provide access to large amounts of additional capacity for applications with urgent needs. To learn more, please visit the Amazon EC2 Spot Instances detail page.