Amazon Web Services upgrades cloud-based Linux implementation

IDG News Service - The latest version of Amazon Web Services' Linux AMI is now available, and includes the R language as well as new versions of Apache and PHP.

The Linux AMI (Amazon Machine Image) is a supported Linux image offered by Amazon for use on its Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). It is designed to be used with online package repositories hosted in each region.

AWS Linux AMI version 2012.09 is based on version 3.2.30 of the Linux kernel. A new addition is version 2.15 of the R language, a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics that users have been asking for, according to Amazon.

The AMI also supports multiple versions of both Apache and PHP, which are engineered to work together in specific combinations. Apache 2.2 in conjunction with PHP 5.3 is the default, but users can also choose to run Apache 2.4 with PHP 5.4.

Version 2.4 of Apache was released earlier this year and was the first major update of the software since 2005. Apache 2.4 offers improved performance, and works better in high traffic environments.

There are also now multiple versions of GCC (GNU Compiler Collection) and OpenJDK to choose between in the AMI.

Additional network interfaces attached while the instance is running are now configured automatically.

The AMI is available for all AWS users, and an on-demand instance costs between US$0.020 and $3.10 per hour.

There is also a free tier for new customers that allows them to use Linux in Amazon's cloud for up to a year without getting a bill.

Users of the previous 2012.03, 2011.09, and 2011.02 versions can upgrade using the yum updater and package installer.

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