Configuring instance tiers
This topic describes the scenarios when you must activate the advanced-instanced tier.
AWS Systems Manager offers a standard-instances tier and an advanced-instances tier for non-EC2 machines in a hybrid and multicloud environment.
You can register up to 1,000 standard hybrid-activated
nodes per account per AWS Region at no additional cost. However,
registering more than 1,000 hybrid nodes requires that you activate the
advanced-instances tier. There is a charge to use the advanced-instances tier. For
more information, see AWS Systems Manager Pricing
Even with fewer than 1,000 registered hybrid-activated nodes, two other scenarios require the advanced-instances tier:
-
You want to use Session Manager to connect to non-EC2 nodes.
-
You want to patch applications (not operating systems) released by Microsoft on non-EC2 nodes.
Note
There is no charge to patch applications released by Microsoft on Amazon EC2 instances.
Advanced-instances tier detailed scenarios
The following information provides details on the three scenarios for which you must activate the advanced-instances tier.
- Scenario 1: You want to register more than 1,000 hybrid-activated nodes
-
Using the standard-instances tier, you can register a maximum of 1,000 non-EC2 nodes in a hybrid and multicloud environment per AWS Region in a specific account without additional charge. If you need to register more than 1,000 non-EC2 nodes in a Region, you must use the advanced-instances tier. You can then activate as many machines for your hybrid and multicloud environment as you want. Charges for the advanced-instances tier are based on the number of advanced nodes activated as Systems Manager managed nodes and the hours those nodes are running.
All Systems Manager managed nodes that use the activation process described in Create a hybrid activation to register nodes with Systems Manager are then subject to charge if you exceed 1,000 on-premises nodes in a Region in a specific account .
Note
You can also activate existing Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances using Systems Manager hybrid activations and work with them as non-EC2 instances, such as for testing. These also qualify as hybrid nodes. This isn't a common scenario.
- Scenario 2: Patching Microsoft-released applications on hybrid-activated nodes
-
The advanced-instances tier is also required if you want to patch Microsoft-released applications on non-EC2 nodes in a hybrid and multicloud environment. If you activate the advanced-instances tier to patch Microsoft applications on non-EC2 nodes, charges are then incurred for all on-premises nodes, even if you have fewer than 1,000.
There is no additional charge to patch applications released by Microsoft on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances. For more information, see Patching applications released by Microsoft on Windows Server.
- Scenario 3: Connecting to hybrid-activated nodes using Session Manager
-
Session Manager provides interactive shell access to your instances. To connect to hybrid-activated managed nodes using Session Manager, you must activate the advanced-instances tier. Charges are then incurred for all hybrid-activated nodes, even if you have fewer than 1,000.
Summary: When do I need the advanced-instances tier?
Use the following table to review when you must use the advanced-instances tier, and for which scenarios additional charges apply.
| Scenario | Advanced-instances tier required? | Additional charges apply? |
|---|---|---|
|
The number of hybrid-activated nodes in my Region in a specific account is more than 1,000. |
Yes | Yes |
|
I want to use Patch Manager to patch Microsoft-released applications on any number of hybrid-activated nodes, even less than 1,000. |
Yes | Yes |
|
I want to use Session Manager to connect to any number of hybrid-activated nodes, even less than 1,000. |
Yes | Yes |
|
No | No |
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