Dedicated Hosts

aws/compute aws/billing

💡 Definition

An Amazon EC2 Dedicated Host is a physical server with EC2 instance capacity fully dedicated to your use. Dedicated Hosts allow you to use your existing per-socket, per-core, or per-VM software licenses, including Windows Server, Microsoft SQL Server, SUSE, and Linux Enterprise Server.

🔑 Key Concepts

Physical Server: You get the entire physical machine, not just a VM on a shared machine.
BYOL (Bring Your Own License): Helps you save money by using existing software licenses that are bound to physical hardware.
Compliance: Helps meet regulatory requirements that mandate physical isolation.

⚙️ How it Works

Allocate Host: You allocate a Dedicated Host in a specific Region and AZ.
Launch Instances: You launch instances onto that specific host.
Manage: You have visibility into the number of sockets and cores, allowing you to track license usage.

🎯 Use Cases

Licensing: Migrating on-premises workloads with strict licensing terms (e.g., Oracle, Microsoft).
Regulatory Compliance: Industries requiring physical isolation of data processing.

💰 Pricing Model

Per Host: You pay for the active Dedicated Host per hour, regardless of how many instances are running on it.

📝 Exam Tips (CLF-C02)

Dedicated Hosts vs Dedicated Instances:
- Dedicated Host: Physical server control (good for BYOL).
- Dedicated Instance: Runs on hardware dedicated to a single customer, but you don't control the placement/sockets (not for BYOL).
Most expensive EC2 option generally.

See Also: * EC2 * Compliance