Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts and Licensing

Introduction

Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts allow you to use physical servers dedicated to your use. This provides greater control over your instance placement and can help you meet compliance requirements, particularly for licensing.

What are Dedicated Hosts?

Dedicated Hosts are physical servers with EC2 instance capacity fully dedicated to your use. Key features include:

Full control over instance placement.
Ability to bring your own licenses (BYOL) for software.
Compliance and auditing capabilities.

Licensing Options

With Dedicated Hosts, you can choose from the following licensing options:

On-Demand Licenses: Pay for the license usage as you go.
Bring Your Own License: Use existing licenses you already own.

Creating a Dedicated Host

Follow these steps to create a Dedicated Host in the AWS Management Console:

1. Log in to the AWS Management Console.
2. Navigate to the EC2 Dashboard.
3. Click on "Dedicated Hosts" in the left navigation pane.
4. Click on "Allocate Dedicated Host".
5. Choose the instance type and other settings.
6. Click on "Allocate" to create the host.

Best Practices

To maximize the benefits of EC2 Dedicated Hosts, consider the following best practices:

Regularly monitor your host usage to optimize costs.
Ensure compliance with licensing terms when using BYOL.
Document your host configurations for audit purposes.

FAQ

What types of instances can run on a Dedicated Host?

Most EC2 instance types are supported, but be sure to check the compatibility list in the AWS documentation.

Can I change the instance type after allocating a Dedicated Host?

Yes, you can change the instance type, but it may require stopping and starting the instance.

Are Dedicated Hosts more expensive than regular EC2 instances?

Dedicated Hosts can have a higher cost due to the dedicated nature but can save costs with BYOL licensing.