In the Cloud

Today I got my first EC2 instance running. It took a total of about two hours from registering for the service to a point where I had a full CentOS 5 install up and going serving out a static web page. Responsiveness of my server was fast ( even at the cheapest level ) and my experience on the command line felt like I was running on my own hardware. I have to say I was pretty high on the whole thing, that was until I realized there is no way to get a static ip or host name. Not getting a static IP I can understand. The inability to have a static hostname I don’t understand, this kills most of the uses I would have for the service. Sure there are ways you can get around this with dynamic dns and I can hear the hacker side in it’s Darth Vader voice, “Put together an XMPP based service to update to a master and share server locations as they come up. Only then will you know the true power of that Dark Side”. While my sysadmin side manifests itself as ObiWan’s ethereal image and says “Don’t listen to the guy who’s life support system shot craps and let him die”.