Ask HN: When to choose AWS over a more typical VPS provider?

2 points by throwawayhost ↗ HN
Our startup needs to move the hosting for our web app from a dev shop's physical server into the cloud.

The app runs a pretty standard Linux/Apache/MySQL/Java stack, doesn't have any serious computation or storage requirements, and targets a very niche market; 25 concurrent users would be the absolute maximum load expected for the next 6-12 months. It needs to be accessible 24 hours a day, but it's also no big deal if the app is down for a minute during a deploy.

The dev shop keeps pushing AWS, but I've heard enough horror stories about hidden charges and billing overages that I'm wary. Given the minimal load on the server, it doesn't seem like we'd need the scalability of Elastic Beanstalk or the storage of S3.

Are there any considerations I'm missing? How would you choose a host in this situation?

1 comment

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If you have any linux experience I would recommended using DigitalOcean for your VPS. Their lowest tier server is plenty to run what you are looking to use it for, for only $5/month (No hidden fees). Even with just following a couple of their setup tutorials you would have a solid server that you have full control over, and if you are feeling generous you could even signup with my referral code and get $10 credit (Which would be two free months): https://m.do.co/c/77c33ef2ad6e