[StarCluster] OT: occasional use aws

[Chris Dagdigian]

Neal Becker wrote:
> I wonder how I can use aws where I only need it occasionally?  My concern
> is I need a specific environment setup, including building my own python
> extensions (from lots of c++ code, boost, etc).  But I don't want to pay
> for storage of the image.  Is there a workflow that makes sense for this?


Have you properly calculated the cost of actually storing that image
either as a small AMI of your own or in an EBS disk that you mount to a
server on-demand?

The cost of a single AMI image or  small "several gigabytes" EBS disk is
basically pocket change.  Well worth the convenience. You might actually
be under the AWS Free Tier as well in which case it would cost you
nothing for a while.

For an even cheaper method you might be able to drop a tar.gz archive
into an S3 bucket that you've set to "Reduced Redundancy" mode to save
even more money.

-Chris