Dave Winer has distilled the steps involved in setting up a server on Amazon. Why would you want to do this? Well, imagine if you had a new PC and you wanted to have it running software that you can access at any time, from anywhere you have an internet connection. Sure, you could leave the computer up and running in your home office but configuring your router to access that PC can be a bear. Also, you’ll have to find a desk to hold the PC. And, you’ll pay for the electricity to run it. Not to mention you’ll be the one who has to maintain it and get it fixed if/when it needs repair. Not fun.
By following Dave’s doc, you can bypass all the woes I just mentioned and let Amazon do all the dirty work. The benefit for you is that you have your own PC running in the cloud and Amazon takes care of everything. For a price. Amazon will charge you $0.125 per hour. The way to keep this cost in check is to simply turn off the computer (Amazon calls it an instance) when you aren’t using it. Think of it like closing the lid on your laptop when you are done.
OK, so you want a real life example, right? Well, by following Dave’s doc on this subject, one of the steps involves installing his OPML Server. By installing this server, you can add RSS feeds to it. Then, whenever you want to read your RSS feeds, just visit a special webpage that points to your Amazon server.
This is really powerful stuff. Like Dave says, ‘You don’t have to know or care where the server is. You also don’t have to talk to anyone to create a server, and when you’re done with it, just shut it off.’
If you set up your own server on Amazon, let me know how it goes and what you are doing with it.