What happened to the original instance type?

The original instance type is still available. It is called the small instance (m1.small) and it has the same technical specifications.

Will the original instance type be retired soon?

There are no plans to retire the original instance type.

If I do not specify an instance type at launch, what type of instance will I get?

You will get a small instance instance type which is equivalent to the original Amazon EC2 instance type.

Does my instance limit apply to all instance types or is there a separate limit for each type?

The instance limit applies to the sum of all instances, regardless of type. There is no separate instance limit per type.

Can I mix instance types, or do I have to use the same type for all of my instances?

You can launch any combination of instance types. Choose the instance types that have the most appropriate memory, CPU, and storage for each function within your application.

Which instance types are 32-bit and which are 64-bit?

The small Instance (m1.small) is 32-bit. The large (m1.large) and extra large (m1.xlarge) instances are 64-bit.

Can I launch any AMI on any type of instance?

No. You must use 64-bit AMIs on large (m1.large) and extra large (m1.xlarge) instances and 32-bit AMIs on small Instances (m1.small).

Do I have to do anything special to bundle the large or extra large instances?

Make sure to use the latest AMI Tools.

Can I build an AMI that works on both 32-bit and 64-bit instances?

No, an AMI is either a 32-bit AMI or a 64-bit.

Can I run 32- bit applications on 64-bit AMIs?

You can run a 32-bit application on a 64-bit host if the Linux kernel is compiled with IA32 emulation and the correct 32-bit libraries are available.

By default, the Amazon DomU Kernel has IA32 emulation enabled and there are many public AMIs that include pre-installed 32-bit libraries. If the library you require is not included with the AMI, you can install it using standard tools (e.g., yum).

How fast is the disk?

The large and extra large instances have higher and more consistent I/O performance than the original (small) instance.

	Note
	The first write to any given block of the disk will be slower than subsequent writes. For more information, see Disk Performance Optimization

Can I RAID the spindles exposed on large and extra large instances?

Yes, you can use software RAID on top of the exposed spindles.

	Note
	The initial RAID setup might take a long time. For more information, see Disk Performance Optimization

Can I launch the large or extra large instance in direct addressed space?

No, the large and extra large instances are only available as NAT addressed instances. For more information, see Instance Addressing and Network Security.