Using cloud-native images has streamlined cluster management but has needed newer package versions
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Amazon Linux is as a base for my EC2 instances, but recently I have been using it almost exclusively as EKS node stock images.
A specific example of how I am using Amazon Linux in one of my projects is that it hosts our Kubernetes nodes that connect to AWS EKS services.
What is most valuable?
The best feature Amazon Linux offers, in my opinion, is the compatibility with AWS cloud and AWS services.
When I mention compatibility with AWS cloud and services, I appreciate how it is connected to AWS System Manager and how it automates registration to EKS.
Amazon Linux has impacted my organization positively by simplifying the workflow where we manage our EKS nodes. It simplifies our workflow because it reduces time; we always know that Amazon Linux AMIs are updated with all security patches and compatible with EKS, so we are able to rely on them.
What needs improvement?
I am not sure how Amazon Linux can be improved, as we are fully satisfied with it, but sometimes we cannot find some modern application packages. I cannot provide examples right now, but I think previously I tried to install a PostgreSQL server into it and I was unable to find the latest version available from the package registry, so I had to compile it myself.
For how long have I used the solution?
I do not remember exactly how long I have been using Amazon Linux, but probably starting in 2018.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Amazon Linux is stable in my experience; there were no issues at all with stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Amazon Linux for my needs is good; it is the same as any Linux distribution.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used Ubuntu and kops to deploy Kubernetes clusters, but we switched when Amazon provided the EKS service and AMIs with Amazon Linux that connects to EKS.
Before choosing Amazon Linux, we worked on Ubuntu.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Amazon Linux is free, so we are not purchasing Amazon Linux, but we use AMIs that are published on the Marketplace.
I do not have experience with the pricing of Amazon Linux.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others looking into using Amazon Linux is to use it if you need it.
I would not add more about the needed improvements, perhaps around package availability or anything else that comes to mind.
My overall review rating for Amazon Linux is 7.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Improved service reliability and performance have supported critical workloads but need more feedback loops
What is our primary use case?
A major use case for Amazon Linux is that it powers both web servers and application servers. As a payment company, we majorly use Amazon Linux to deploy our services. Being able to ship those services to our customers means that the performance of the service is critical to our customers, which speaks to service reliability. Service reliability has been one key thing that Amazon Linux has been able to deliver to us as an organization.
What is most valuable?
From the performance perspective, our use case is basically the deployment of services, and using Amazon Linux as the baseline OS has really helped us from the performance perspective compared to our experience with other baseline operating systems we have used in the past.
The boot time and resource usage have improved with Amazon Linux compared to other baseline operating systems we have used in the past. Resource usage is more efficient with Amazon Linux. Faster boot time and efficient resource usage make Amazon Linux perform better for us.
Being able to ship services to our customers efficiently and ensuring service reliability is a key benefit delivered by Amazon Linux.
What needs improvement?
I believe customer feedback and engagement will help improve the product. From my own standpoint for now, nothing comes to mind. We recently moved to Amazon Linux, but it has been efficient for us. Nothing comes to mind at this time.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Amazon Linux for a few years now and it is currently being used at my workplace. We have a couple of services that are being deployed on Amazon Linux.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
From the scalability perspective, Amazon Linux has been efficient for us. It has been able to handle the traffic load for us.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support generally for AWS has been great, and we have not seen a reason to have any situation with the customer support. On the grand scheme of things, the customer support has been awesome.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We evaluated and deployed some services on Ubuntu and some other Linux distributions.
How was the initial setup?
Because we set up Amazon Linux on AWS, which I believe is proprietary to the AWS organization, the experience was efficient.
What was our ROI?
We have seen a return on investments with that, and we were able as an organization to save something around $8,000 per month. That was really helpful.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is not bad, especially with the Graviton instances, the ARM Graviton instances, which has also really helped us in our organization to basically drop our cloud cost.
What other advice do I have?
It has been a great experience with Amazon Linux for us as an organization. My overall review rating for Amazon Linux is 7 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Migration project has improved package management and supports smooth cloud operations
What is our primary use case?
I am working with Infosys, and the client is Denmark's Bank, Danske Bank, one of the largest banks in Denmark. I am part of a migration project with the bank servers moving from on-premises to AWS cloud. Amazon Linux was purchased from the Amazon Marketplace, and we have OpenShift, the Red Hat OpenShift container platform. As a migration engineer, I am not entirely certain how partnerships work with Amazon. My organization is large and its structure regarding how they manage their relation with AWS cloud is complex. We are using the service, with the OCP cluster purchased from the marketplace running on AWS and managed by Red Hat.
What is most valuable?
Regarding Amazon Linux, I observe that there is not much difference between Amazon Linux and Red Hat Linux. When I install packages, I notice that Red Hat Linux takes a little more time, and I am uncertain if it is based on the hardware or the security system. The RPM-based package makes it very difficult to install some specific packages in Red Hat Linux, but with Amazon Linux, it is easy to install RPM or DNF packages.
I have been using Amazon Linux for the last one and a half years.
What needs improvement?
Future features for Amazon Linux, like cost-effectiveness, should be improved because any organization, whether small, a startup company, or a large organization, primarily considers cost. Comparing to Ubuntu, an open-source alternative, I think Amazon Linux could benefit from some cost optimization because it costs a little more than Ubuntu in Indian Rupees.
Regarding maintenance for Amazon Linux, sometimes it requires maintenance similar to how Red Hat provides end-to-end support for Red Hat Linux.
Regarding Amazon Linux support, we used to raise tickets for any issues related to it. We connect on chat or interact with AWS engineers for critical issues. With the support system for Amazon Linux, I feel there is a lack compared to Red Hat, which provides a stronger support system.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have overall experience of 6+ years, with six years, nine or ten months as of this January.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Regarding the stability of Amazon Linux, we are migrating thousands of servers from on-premises to AWS cloud for Danske Bank. I observed that while patching and updates from Red Hat systems are handled easily, with Amazon Linux we need to take extra care, particularly with legacy systems, since the latest versions work fine without issues.
How are customer service and support?
In my experience with Amazon's technical support, all issues are resolved whenever I connect with their engineers, but the communication levels can be somewhat different, such as a priority system. I would give a score of 8.5 to 9 out of 10.
How would you rate customer service and support?
How was the initial setup?
From an installation point of view for Amazon Linux, there is nothing difficult as we are using Terraform for deployment purposes. We use the Amazon provided AMI directly and deploy it, just as we do with other Linux flavors such as Ubuntu or Red Hat.
What other advice do I have?
From my personal and system perspective, I have experienced over the last one year that any packages run easily in Amazon Linux, which I would recommend because I am a cloud engineer for AWS cloud for the last six plus years and I am aware of how these things are involved. For Amazon Linux overall, I give it nine out of ten because it executes commands very smoothly, and that is what I appreciate about it. I would rate this review nine out of ten.
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Built secure, self-hosted web and data platforms and now manage production operations confidently
What is our primary use case?
Amazon Linux serves as my primary platform for hosting Nginx web servers and self-hosted Postgres databases. I have also set up HashiCorp Nomad, Consul, Prometheus, and Grafana on Amazon Linux, utilizing a maximum of self-hosted services including all services and APIs as part of DevOps-managed, self-hosted applications.
In a specific project, I used Amazon Linux for these self-hosted services with a tool called Nomad, which is equivalent to Kubernetes. I created a Nomad Consul setup with worker and master-slave nodes specifically on Amazon Linux, where I set up three Nomad servers, three Nomad workers, and Consul as a service mesh. I built an end-to-end use case on Amazon Linux, utilizing Postgres for self-hosting the database connection, which also runs on Amazon Linux.
I have also set up a Key Vault on Amazon Linux, which is a Kubernetes native solution released by the Linux Foundation. It functions as an RBAC authentication layer for application DevOps-level operations. I set up the Key Vault for our application two days ago, and we are using Postgres for it, both running on Amazon Linux, which is performing excellently.
What is most valuable?
Amazon Linux offers many excellent features. Compared to other operating systems, Amazon Linux is quicker and faster than CentOS, Ubuntu, or similar alternatives. Amazon Linux natively supports many AWS features, offers long-term support, and regularly updates security.
Setting up monitoring in AWS through CloudWatch monitoring, log monitoring, or alert monitoring is beneficial due to the clear documentation provided by Amazon. I have set up many things throughout my career using Amazon Linux, and it supports many dependency software and open-source software with free licensing, so there is no need for license purchase or dependencies. It supports all technologies including Nomad, Docker, and Kubernetes, along with many programming languages such as Java and Python with numerous agents available for installation, making it an excellent operating system complemented by strong documentation.
The documentation from Amazon has helped me significantly. When I want to set up something in Key Vault for application-level monitoring, I refer to the clear and well-released documentation from Amazon, which is superior compared to other operating systems. This clarity allows me to set things up quickly and upgrade from staging to production easily.
Amazon Linux has positively impacted my organization through excellent support. The good support provided helps upgrade effortlessly, and security vulnerabilities are professionally fixed quickly while releasing multiple AMIs. I notice this whenever I see an AMI being upgraded within two weeks, which is beneficial for us. Many open-source supported features are available, and the operational efficiency of upgrading to Amazon Linux compared to other operating systems has been significant. We utilize it extensively.
What needs improvement?
Amazon is bringing more upgrades through Amazon Linux 2 and Amazon Linux 2023, and I appreciate that the boot time is fast and upgrades are easy, which represents a positive aspect.
Everything is currently good with Amazon Linux for my needs, and I think Amazon is performing excellently. I have not faced any issues, but if there is any concern regarding the security side, I would appreciate proactive addressing, as we use this in production-level operations. It would be good to have prior knowledge of any potential issues. I am also performing OS hardening while expecting proactive addressing of any third-party vulnerabilities linked to bad software in the repository.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Amazon Linux from the start of my career, providing six years of experience with Amazon Linux.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Amazon Linux is stable, and I find it performing consistently well overall.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Amazon Linux is good. If I want to run any launch template or configuration with more scripts, the booting is very fast, allowing quick scalability without any confusion.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support from Amazon is excellent. They provide extensive support for any obstacles we face and for everything we want to accomplish. When I raise a case with AWS, they assist effectively.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have been using Amazon Linux from the start.
Before choosing Amazon Linux, we evaluated other options such as Ubuntu because they also provide support and have a competitive market presence compared to other Linux distributions.
How was the initial setup?
We have not purchased Amazon Linux through the AWS Marketplace since it is offered in the AWS Launchpad itself, and we are using that OS.
What was our ROI?
In terms of money saved, many operating systems impose charges. We save considerable amounts since we do not have to pay for an OS such as Kali Linux. The free license and support mean we save considerable time launching. With Amazon Linux, selecting and launching instances on a public cloud provider means the machine spins up in fewer than ten seconds, making it efficient.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is quite positive. The pricing is free compared to many other operating systems that charge. I appreciate that there is no license renewal required, and it is a free tier for us, which makes it very convenient. Amazon's straightforward approach on these matters means no additional costs involved, making everything quite comfortable for us.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We use AWS, or Amazon Web Services, as our cloud provider.
What other advice do I have?
Regarding specific outcomes or metrics with Amazon Linux, I can first say that production upgrades enhance security. Amazon Linux runs faster compared to other operating systems such as CentOS, Kali Linux, and Ubuntu, making the startup and boot-up script run fast during launch time.
I rate Amazon Linux a nine out of ten. I choose this rating because I am concerned about the repository possibly containing vulnerability packages, though this could happen with any system.
My advice for others looking into using Amazon Linux is to explore the many features available. Several aspects such as Session Manager for public cloud connection and startup scripts are useful. Security-wise, it is also robust, and various software packages are available in the registry. If something is not found, it is easy to install open-source software. Monitoring applications at a custom CloudWatch level is also supported, so I recommend exploring Amazon Linux first since it is free. Overall, I would rate this product a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Django and Next.js projects have been deployed faster and run reliably for complex web platforms
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Amazon Linux is deploying Django websites, apps, and APIs with Next.js. I handle deployment using Nginx and manage the complete setup for deploying full projects.
A specific example is the Django API backend with a Next.js frontend for the web dashboard at 71lbs.com, where users must log in. The entire project is deployed on Amazon Linux. I manage the integration of new deployments and created a setup using Nginx and the supervisor provided by Amazon Linux.
What is most valuable?
Amazon Linux and Ubuntu are similar but differ in implementation and setup. Both have similar functions and run very well, making Amazon Linux a good option alongside Ubuntu.
These features work well for me, though I am more accustomed to working with Ubuntu. My company uses Amazon Linux because of the initial setup they established. It is working very well and operates very fast with queries and everything on that server, so there are no current problems.
Since using Amazon Linux, I have performed long queries and updated information for the web system. I find that it works very fast and handles large queries for substantial amounts of information effectively.
What needs improvement?
Amazon Linux could be improved by including libraries for supervisor. On Ubuntu, supervisor runs Django services in the background, while Amazon Linux does not have this built-in and requires a different supervisor approach. Documentation or PDF files about well-known solutions for this would be beneficial.
Since Amazon Linux is based on Ubuntu, documentation explaining the differences between Ubuntu and Amazon Linux would be valuable. When I am accustomed to working with Ubuntu and want to use the same functions on Amazon Linux, I would prefer to understand the differences and how to implement features that exist on Ubuntu so I do not become lost in the process or have to search extensively for information.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Amazon Linux for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Amazon Linux has good scalability. I remember when we upgraded one server to a different tier, the service upgrade was quick and very effective.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support for Amazon Linux is very good. We experienced an upgrade that took only a few minutes to complete.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I used a different solution with a VPS running Ubuntu before, primarily because I had that available and possessed more knowledge about using it, as well as due to cost considerations, since I was not aware of AWS at that time.
How was the initial setup?
I am not certain whether my company purchased Amazon Linux through the AWS Marketplace, as the server is managed by the company, but I believe they are using it from the AWS Marketplace.
I have heard about pricing and consider it good. The setup was somewhat difficult because of a lack of knowledge. I am not certain about the cost and licensing because I was not involved in that part of the process.
What was our ROI?
I do not have information on whether I have seen a return on investment.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing Amazon Linux, I evaluated Google Cloud Platform. My company selected Amazon Linux because they have all their services already working on AWS.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others looking into using Amazon Linux would be to be conscious about the differences between Amazon Linux and Ubuntu, as they look similar and have similar properties, but they need to have more knowledge for the initial setup, especially for downloading packages and dependencies. I would recommend obtaining more information on that topic.
Before concluding, I would suggest that your platform could provide examples of pricing and examples of which companies work with AWS and which languages they use. Perhaps you could create a list of websites using Django and Next.js as well as those using JavaScript. When I have a new project, I could check if my project will fit on AWS and how the pricing will be structured, because whether I run microservices or a VPS or EC2 server, it would be helpful to know the pricing, features, and everything before purchasing and discovering everything after the project is developed and deployed, with no way to roll back. I give this product a rating of eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Reliable platform has supported automated migrations and streamlined workflows for diverse workloads
What is our primary use case?
The use cases for this in our company is that we have a customer that internally uses it for several applications, and they are a telecommunications company that has virtual machines and Linux machines for several purposes.
What is most valuable?
In my opinion, the best features of Amazon Linux include the stability and its standard Linux distribution, which in some cases is easier to deploy and manage than the Ubuntu distribution, but I feel comfortable with Ubuntu too.
The rich documentation with Amazon Linux is beneficial for my migration processes; I think that one of the strongest parts is the documentation. AWS has a lot of documents and official documentation, which is pretty good in most cases, even though in some instances, you have to use the documentation for third parties.
It helps with workflow by being pretty useful for automation tasks.
What needs improvement?
Right now, I don't think there are any specific areas to improve in Amazon Linux.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I say it's stable because I'm a pretty big fan of the Linux platform in general, so for me, it is the most stable distribution and the most stable operating system, especially since I know that they use the latest kernel.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I say it is also scalable because when AWS starts a project that works with something, they do things in a very good manner; AWS is a very stable distribution.
How are customer service and support?
I rate the support or customer service of Amazon as very good because our customer has a support contract, so they pay a lot of money for access; my team can reach AWS engineers 24/7. It's really good support.
I haven't used a lot of support in the case specifically for Amazon Linux, but the few times I have to request support for that platform, the engineers have been very proficient and they have a lot of knowledge in the platform.
How would you rate customer service and support?
How was the initial setup?
For me, the initial setup is complex, but I don't have sufficient elements to emit a concept in that part.
What other advice do I have?
I use AWS, Azure, and I'm starting to use GCP, Google Cloud Platform.
I have also used ZoomInfo. I have been using the product since its creation. I have not used the ZoomInfo product.
With Amazon, I use AWS in infrastructure, EC2, S3, RDS, etcetera. Mostly infrastructure products, and in Azure, I use virtual machines, VNETs, and SQL Azure, etcetera.
I have used Amazon Linux machines, but in some cases, I deliver Ubuntu servers, but I have used Amazon Linux machines as well.
I use that feature in Amazon Linux, absolutely.
I don't remember if I use the optimized kernel in Amazon Linux because I have used the Linux functions and the Linux functionality per se, but I'm not used to that functionality in AWS.
I don't have so much experience regarding the pricing and licensing of Amazon Linux.
We are partners with Amazon, we are registered partners, and we have several people certified in AWS, but we need to get much more business and pay the subscription to go to the next step in our level of partnership.
I rate this review with an overall rating of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Rich ecosystem has supported AI development and secure migrations but still needs clearer examples
What is our primary use case?
I have experience with the product. AWS Lambda functions and the S3 bucket are the Amazon products I deal with mostly.
What is most valuable?
I am generally satisfied with Amazon Linux; I appreciate the EC2 instances as well.
The ecosystem of software packages in Amazon Linux has helped us keep up to date with the artificial intelligence trend, where people are using ChatGPT to code, and they are also using Amazon Developer Q to program applications much faster, and then also to meet requirements with the Google Play Store and Apple Store.
The rich documentation of Amazon Linux is beneficial for my migration processes; it is very helpful.
Amazon Linux's security updates have been helpful in general because I have had to be more specific in using the Identity Access Management (IAM) service so that we can have role-based permissions in preference to just keeping it open.
What needs improvement?
Amazon Linux can be improved by having the documentation contain more examples of use cases.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Amazon Linux for at least five years.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was very friendly for me; it was very friendly on Mac. I did not have any severe challenges installing or updating.
What other advice do I have?
I do not use the optimized kernel in Amazon Linux.
I tried a little bit with Alexa services, but considering, it has been a while since I updated the integrated AWS CLI feature in Amazon Linux.
I find the pricing friendly because it is per hour; I use the pay-as-you-go option so that if the application does not have a lot of users, it is cheap. However, when there are many users, the users then pay for the expenses of the application.
There is a need for features including integration with other marketplaces; when you build, launch once, and deploy everywhere, it would be easy to just deploy once if there was that integration. That would be a nice feature to have.
I would recommend Amazon Linux to others. I give this review a rating of 7.
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?