My impression of EC2 and S3 has always been that they're appropriate for meeting short term needs (to handle extra load or to function as backups), but that's about it.
Their long-term pricing is terrible compared to other options, and they offer few benefits. At the low end, standard VPSes are much cheaper. At the high end, never mind colo, there are dedicated and even managed servers which offer far better value.
Comments
My impression of EC2 and S3 has always been that they're appropriate for meeting short term needs (to handle extra load or to function as backups), but that's about it.
Their long-term pricing is terrible compared to other options, and they offer few benefits. At the low end, standard VPSes are much cheaper. At the high end, never mind colo, there are dedicated and even managed servers which offer far better value.