Spot Scaling FAQ
Spot Instance
What is a Spot Instance?
Spot Instances are spare EC2 capacity that can save you up to 90% off On-Demand prices that Amazon Web Services can interrupt with a two-minute notification. Spot uses the same underlying EC2 instances as On-Demand and Reserved Instances and is best suited for fault-tolerant, flexible workloads. Spot instances provide an additional option for obtaining compute capacity and can be used along with On-Demand and Reserved Instances.
What are the differences between Spot Instances and On-Demand Instances?
While running, Spot Instances are essentially the same as On-Demand Instances. The main difference is that Spot Instances typically offer a significant discount over On-Demand prices. The tradeoff is that Spot Instances can be interrupted by Amazon EC2 for capacity requirements with a two-minute notification. Spot prices adjust gradually based on long-term supply and demand for spare EC2 capacity. See Amazon EC2 Spot Instances for more information.