What is the AWS Elastic Beanstalk CPU cap on the Free Tier?

Question

I have a web app that will definitely be a low-traffic app (less than a few dozen hits per day), but when it does get a "hit" (the user actually has to kick off an action), it wakes up and does some heavy-duty number crunching (very CPU-intensiive) for several hours per request . As such, once live, I could foresee the server's CPUs going full bore throughout the day, even though the site itself might only receive ~15 visitors and even less number-crunching requests.

I'm trying to determine if the AWS Elastic Beanstalk Free Tier is appropriate for what I need.

Is there a certain "max CPU cycles" or "max CPU utilization" that Beanstalk is capped at for the Free Tier? If so, what is it and what are the terms & conditions surrounding it? I tried looking for it on their prices page but didn't find much relating to CPUs.

Also, if anybody knows of a Java PaaS that would be more suited for my CPU-intensive, low-traffic app (and that is free!) please speak up and let me know! Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Free tier gets you a micro instance. Micro instances, unlike all other instances, have a burstable CPU profile. They can burst up to two compute units for a few minutes, then they are restricted to less than 1.

If you need to max out CPU usage for several hours, you will need something bigger than a micro instance.

Answer 2

see this: http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/faqs/#What_is_an_EC2_Compute_Unit_and_why_did_you_introduce_it

The free tier has 1 ec2 compute unit.

Answer 3

Your questions can be answered on this page: Amazon Free Tier FAQs .

You can max out the micro instance to your hearts delight for 12 months following sign up date.