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Thread: persistent instance methods?
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This question is answered.
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Correct answers available: 1.
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Replies:
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Last Post:
Jun 8, 2009 2:44 PM
by: Doug Clutter
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persistent instance methods?
Posted:
Jun 3, 2009 6:07 AM PDT
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Okay, I've run instances. I've created and attached persistent data volumes. Got it -- if you have persistent data and some ready-made instances to operate on that data, say for providing web or database or even domain controller functions, EC2 makes complete sense.
What if you want to host highly configured persistent system instances? Imaging a work group server -- every other day you may add cron tasks, additional SMB shares, more Postfix configuration commands, etc. The "thing" that you care about is the system itself, not some separate volume of data. The system itself and its capabilities/functions continue to evolve daily, perhaps by the work of multiple administrators across the globe.
You'd like to retain that information/configuration/function across multiple start/reboot cycles ... how do you do that?
Right now, the only method that is obvious (to me) is performing instance backups ... then constructing new instances from the backups -- boy that's labor intensive and fraught with peril.
Or is EC2 only useful where the system configuration is fixed/generic/non-persistent? That would IMO be a waste, given the disaster recovery/continuous operation capabilities of cloud computing.
Am I missing an obvious method for preserving a highly/continuously configured system instance (Linux or Windows) or is EC2 missing it?
Thanks for any insight ...
Richard
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Re: persistent instance methods?
Posted:
Jun 3, 2009 7:11 AM PDT
in response to: Richard Haas
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One way is through a combination of new AMIs and snapshots of the persistent storage.
If frequent AMIs aren't appropriate (and that might depend on the scope of changes), you can store configuration information elsewhere (like S3, or SImpleDB) and pull that over at boot time (or more often in a cron script).
David
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Re: persistent instance methods?
Posted:
Jun 4, 2009 11:30 AM PDT
in response to: D. Kavanagh
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Those are good suggestions but they don't really cut the gordian knot of the fact that the running instances is completely separate from the persistent storage. And making a new instance to incorporate the most recent changes, or keeping those instance changes continuously backed up at they are made, is a real "fight" against the system design.
This disconnect/oversight reminds me a bit of when EC2/S3 started, and they did not have persistent IP addresses ... which made hosting services through cloud instances highly inconvenient. Before persistent IPs, EC2 was mostly useful for bulk/demand data processing of static data sets.
I see an analogous oversight/disability in that the running instance cannot be in persistent storage.
:-) Therefore cavalierly I predict that AWS will solve this problem in about a year from the time I bring it up. Just like last time. ;-)
Richard
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Posts:
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Re: persistent instance methods?
Posted:
Jun 4, 2009 5:41 PM PDT
in response to: Shlomo Swidler
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That's very good info, and I likely will use it. Thank you.
Nonetheless, the phrases "working around design constraints" and "a kludge one would not base their companies' business model on" -- come to mind. :-)
The gap between local hardware's utility and EC2 remains, if EC2 cannot host highly configured and continuously reconfigured system instances without appreciable gyrations.
I'll leave this question open for another day or so, then I'll close it as answered, since it's proved the negative case that "there is no elegant/efficient/simple way to satisfy this need in EC2 today".
My hope remains intact for a way to address these sorts of system instances in EC2 at some future time.
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9/4/07
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Re: persistent instance methods?
Posted:
Jun 7, 2009 3:06 PM PDT
in response to: Richard Haas
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Well, I guess I'll just wait for the feature.
Thanks to those who offered helpful suggestions.
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1/2/08
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Re: persistent instance methods?
Posted:
Jun 7, 2009 4:17 PM PDT
in response to: Richard Haas
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> Therefore cavalierly I predict that AWS will solve
> this problem in about a year from the time I bring it
> up. Just like last time. ;-)
Some people pointed out this problem when EC2 first launched and it hasn't been fixed in that time. I think it's a "feature".
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Re: persistent instance methods?
Posted:
Jun 8, 2009 8:04 AM PDT
in response to: Wesley Felter
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Well, in the abstract, that's a little odd in a world where CPU and storage are commodities.
In a business model, where cloud providers want to force customers to separate strongly the system instances from the data upon which they operate, to best use the cloud infrastructure for elastic scaling or 'cause that's how the pricing best recovers the resource cost -- okay, that could make sense.
It's not "pure cloud" though ... it presumes the execution model. 'Fair enough at this stage of the art, but on a long term basis it looks like a gap in the implementation model big enough to drive a bunch of 3rd party integrators through. Temporarily, and then evaporate the integrator business model when the design shifts.
Cloud integration investors and integration customers -- caveat emptor. :-)
Richard
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117
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