The page has already been deleted - I guessed with a name like "clod" that it could go!
Brian, thanks a lot for the documentation Amazon EC2 Cloud Services Installation.
A linux box is a server. As for the cloud:
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/cloud-computing/cloud-computing.htm
Hi Genys, I hope the following answers your question. If it doesn't then by all means repost or DM me.
Amazon have set up a cloud service and you can get a free virtual server on their systems provided you do not go over certain limits (which are generous). Essentially, you get a free server, ip and access to the server to install what you want. Amazon are trying to commoditise their vast infrastructure.
I came across it because someone had a problem installing moodle on an EC2 free service. He was using an Amazom maintained version of Linux which is RH/FC/Centos based. The problem that the moodle user had was a minor package problem for which I posted a workaround and I have reported to Amazon. If I am correct, they (Amazon) will fix it fairly soon.
What this means is that anyone can get themselves a moodle going for nothing and run it as they want. The server runs like a rocket, I do not know how good the net speed is. The only drawback I can see for an ordinary user is that (apparently) the service can be rebooted failry arbitrarily and as this is a virtual server, you will loose any data that you haven't backed up. This hasn't happened top me yet and I have left the server up for a few days without problems. Obviously if you are just doing Content management, this won't matter anyway.
If you are stuck in your school with some of the paranoid / contolling Managed Server contracts, this provides a viable way forward for the independent minded teacher.
Signing up needs an Amazon account.
I have documented the process of setting up the server once you have the account. If I get some requests I will put the processes of set up and getting the private keys etc into the documentation.
