AWS retires its first-gen compute generation hardware
EC2-Classic has been shut down by AWS
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
AmazonCTO Werner Vogels has confirmed that the company has retired its beloved EC2-Classic after just a few weeks short of 17 years of service, with the final instance having its switch flipped on August 15, 2023.
EC2 fundamentally paved the way for what we know as cloud computing today when it launched back in 2006, and while things have come a long way, its deprecation is something of a historic occasion.
That being said, also worth celebrating is the company’s commitment to “support[ing] today’s workloads as well as tomorrow’s,” a notion first set out by Vogels at a 2013 re:Invent keynote.
AWS bids farewell to EC2-Classic
AWS firstannouncedthat it would be shuttering EC2-Classic two years ago, when AWS Chief Evangelist Jeff Barr promised that the company was “going to make this as smooth and as non-disruptive as possible.”
An August 23, 2023 update reads: “The retirement announced in this blog post is now complete. There are no more EC2 instances running with EC2-Classic networking.”
Vogels’s Septemberblog postreminisces about the history of EC2-Classic, which in the case of m1.small would have seen early customers getting a vCPU the equivalent of a 1.7 GHz Xeon processor, 1.75GB RAM, 160GB local disk space, and 250 Mbps network bandwidth for $0.10 per hour.
Despite clear and worthy focus by Amazon on modern-day equivalents, he congratulates the EC2 team for keeping Classic running, “and running well,” until every instance had been migrated.
Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
In the blog post, Vogels points out that only SQS and S3 are older, but there have been no indications that the company plans to lay these to rest any time soon. In a “bittersweet” goodbye, he signs off with an emotive yet slightly jovial certificate of completion (seen above).
More on AWS from TechRadar Pro
With several years’ experience freelancing in tech and automotive circles, Craig’s specific interests lie in technology that is designed to better our lives, including AI and ML, productivity aids, and smart fitness. He is also passionate about cars and the decarbonisation of personal transportation. As an avid bargain-hunter, you can be sure that any deal Craig finds is top value!
LG Electronics sets ambitious B2B revenue goal to offset declining consumer demand
New fanless cooling technology enhances energy efficiency for AI workloads by achieving a 90% reduction in cooling power consumption
Phishing attacks surge in 2024 as cybercriminals adopt AI tools and multi-channel tactics
