Amazon Lightsail is a VPS(virtual private server) provisioning service, much like the Amazon EC2. But unlike the Amazon EC2, Lightsail doesn’t have as many configurations required to boot up the VPS. Lightsail is the easiest way for developers to get started with aws. It is specifically designed to be a quick and simple solution for small scale applications at fairly low costs. For example, to host a simple small website like blogs and portfolio pages, Lightsail can be a cheap and fairly better solution as compared to EC2. You can obviously do your work in EC2 and have the website deployed from a there but as mentioned before, setting up EC2 is a longer and harder method than AWS Lightsail.
AWS Lightsail features:
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Quick and simple setup: Setting up AWS Lightsail instance is a fairly simple task as compared to running an ECS or EC2 service.
- Can be provisioned from AWS console.
- Can be directly set up from AWS LightSail.
- Can be managed and set-up from AWS CLI.
- Cheaper: AWS Lightsail is cheaper as compared to EC2 and ECS service. Implying that it won’t offer as many features and as much configuration freedom as an EC2 instance.
- Multiple Instances: You can run multiple instances of AWS Lightsail and have them communicate with each other to make a fairly complex use case.
- Connection to other services: AWS Lightsail can connect to other AWS Resources much like any other EC2 instance.
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Less configuration: AWS Lightsail instance can be provisioned from a single page of configurations. It also has some pre-configured settings to support faster deployments. Following are some of the commonly used website configurations provided by AWS Lightsail:
- WordPress
- WordPress MultiSite
- PHP-5 LAMP Server
- PHP-7 LAMP Server
- Node.js
- MEAN
- Nginx
List of available commands:
AWS provides a set of commands that can be run on AWS-CLI (AWS Command Line Interface) to manage your services. Much like you’d manage from your AWS Console. Following is a list of commands that can be run for managing the AWS Lightsail service.
- allocate-static-ip
- attach-disk
- attach-instances-to-load-balancer
- attach-load-balancer-tls-certificate
- attach-static-ip
- close-instance-public-ports
- copy-snapshot
- create-cloud-formation-stack
- create-contact-method
- create-disk
- create-disk-from-snapshot
- create-disk-snapshot
- create-domain
- create-domain-entry
- create-instance-snapshot
- create-instances
- create-instances-from-snapshot
- create-key-pair
- create-load-balancer
- create-load-balancer-tls-certificate
- create-relational-database
- create-relational-database-from-snapshot
- create-relational-database-snapshot
- delete-alarmdelete-auto-snapshot
- delete-contact-methoddelete-disk
- delete-disk-snapshot
- delete-domain
- delete-domain-entry
- delete-instance
- delete-instance-snapshot
- delete-key-pair
- delete-known-host-keys
- delete-load-balancer
- delete-load-balancer-tls-certificate
- delete-relational-database
- delete-relational-database-snapshot
- detach-disk
- detach-instances-from-load-balancer
- detach-static-ip
- disable-add-on
- download-default-key-pair
- enable-add-on
- export-snapshot
- get-active-names
- get-alarms
- get-auto-snapshots
- get-blueprints
- get-bundles
- get-cloud-formation-stack-records
- get-contact-methodsget-disk
- get-disk-snapshot
- get-disk-snapshots
- get-disks
- get-domain
- get-domains
- get-export-snapshot-records
- get-instance
- get-instance-access-details
- get-instance-metric-data
- get-instance-port-states
- get-instance-snapshot
- get-instance-snapshots
- get-instance-state
- get-instances
- get-key-pair
- get-key-pairs
- get-load-balancer
- get-load-balancer-metric-data
- get-load-balancer-tls-certificates
- get-load-balancers
- get-operation
- get-operations
- get-operations-for-resource
- get-regions
- get-relational-database
- get-relational-database-blueprints
- get-relational-database-bundles
- get-relational-database-events
- get-relational-database-log-events
- get-relational-database-log-streams
- get-relational-database-master-user-password
- get-relational-database-metric-data
- get-relational-database-parameters
- get-relational-database-snapshot
- get-relational-database-snapshots
- get-relational-databases
- get-static-ip
- get-static-ips
- import-key-pair
- is-vpc-peered
- open-instance-public-ports
- peer-vpcput-alarm
- put-instance-public-ports
- reboot-instance
- reboot-relational-database
- release-static-ip
- send-contact-method-verification
- start-instance
- start-relational-database
- stop-instance
- stop-relational-database
- tag-resource
- test-alarm
- unpeer-vpc
- untag-resource
- update-domain-entry
- update-load-balancer-attribute
- update-relational-database
- update-relational-database-parameters
Advantages of Amazon Lightsail
- Amazon Lightsail is designed to be easy to use, with a simple setup process and a user-friendly interface.
- Amazon Lightsail is a cost-effective option for smaller websites and applications, with low upfront and predictable monthly costs.
- Lightsail provides a secure environment with features like SSL certificates, firewall management, and automatic backups.
- Lightsail provides fast, reliable performance with low latency and high throughput.
Disadvantages of Amazon Lightsail
- Lightsail’s preconfigured services may limit customization options for more complex or unique applications.
- The resource limitations of Lightsail may not be suitable for larger or resource-intensive applications.
- Lightsail’s managed services may not be as flexible as other AWS services, such as EC2 and EBS.
- Lightsail may not have all the features and functionality available with other AWS services.
Use cases of Amazon Lightsail
- Small Websites and Applications: Lightsail is ideal for small websites and applications that have low resource requirements and need a cost-effective solution.
- Development and Test Environments: Lightsail can be used as a development and test environment, as it provides preconfigured services and easy setup.
- Database Hosting: Lightsail can host relational databases, like MySQL and PostgreSQL, making it a good option for small databases.
- Static Websites: Lightsail can be used to host static websites, with low resource requirements and fast performance.