Re: [Starcluster] Spot Instances

From: Austin Godber <no email>
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:18:04 -0400

Aha, thanks guys, I had thought that it would end up being something
added to the configuration file rather than a command line argument.

Good tips on spot instances. It is worth noting that the price you pay
for a spot instance depends on the current spot price, so the price you
pay varies hourly. This means if you are willing to pay the demand
price (or even higher) then you can bid that and significantly reduce,
though not eliminate, the chance of being shut off, while still
receiving a lower overall price.

Austin

On 07/23/2010 12:47 PM, Rajat Banerjee wrote:
> Hi Austin,
> I think Justin is traveling today so I will answer your question. I
> use spot instances regularly. A bid price of $0.03 usually works, but
> to have more confidence try 0.06.
>
> 1. Enable "experimental" in your config file.
> ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL=True
> save and close.
>
> 2. Start a cluster with this syntax:
> starcluster start tag_name -b 0.03
>
> Wait for some time. Mine just took 28 minutes for $0.03. Usually it is
> 10 minutes or less, but always slower than starting a regular price
> instance.
>
> ** Sometimes the instance will be spontaneously turned off. Amazon
> doesn't charge for the fractional hour if this happens. You should be
> aware that the instance may disappear. They might kill your master,
> they have no discretion or insight into what you're doing.
>
> Good luck.
> Raj
>
>
> On Fri, Jul 23, 2010 at 12:36 PM, Austin Godber<godber_at_uberhip.com> wrote:
>
>> Is there any documentation on using spot instances? I only see things
>> in the release notes and code.
>>
>> Austin
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>
Received on Fri Jul 23 2010 - 13:18:09 EDT