Can I run Windows Server 2008 on Amazon EC2

Question

Hi,

does anyone know if this can be done? I can find Windows Server 2003 but not 2008.

I read you can create your own EC2 Virtual machines, but I haven't found any articles that say you can do this with Windows Server 2008.

I'm really after IIS7, but I'd also intend to use SQL Server Express 2008 until such time as I can add support for SimpleDB or maybe fire up a seperate SQL Server instance.

I also have some Windows Services which run. Which puts shared hosting out the window mostly. Yes there's Azure but I think that would involve more effort than I want to spend initially.

Any help much appreciated,

My current stack is

Windows Server 2008 IIS7 .Net 3.5 SP1 Asp.net MVC Some Windows Services Linq2Sql SQL Server Express 2008

Answer 1

Have you tried hosting.com's cloud? http://hosting.com/cloudhosting/enterprise/

Answer 2

Amazon EC2 does not currently support any Windows besides Windows 2003.

Answer 3

Yes you can!

Using either QEmu or VirtualBox on top of a bare-bone linux server

as for the QEmu option you may start here. Guides for VirtualBox are available everywhere, simply Google for them

Answer 4

You can now!

Amazon revealed Windows Server 2008 availability in december 2009 and there are pre-build AMIs ready for use either with or without Sql Server 2008.

See their Windows information page for more info about pricing and such. The Windows & .NET Developer Center is also a useful resource.