Does Amazon use Xen or XenServer

DustinB3403

So Xen can be installed to just about any Linux distro you want. XenServer is the complete package (no overhead required).

And in a sidebar conversation it was asked does Amazon use Xen or XenServer?

I thought they used XenServer but wasn't 100% positive. Can anyone confirm?

Alex Sage

I would think it's just Xen.

scottalanmiller

It's a cloud, so Xen. XenServer is for traditional virtualization, there is no XenServer based cloud, that doesn't even make sense. Amazon also significantly predates XenServer.

DustinB3403

Thank you for the answer @aaronstuder and @scottalanmiller

dafyre

Thanks guys! I was wondering about this too, lol.

olivier

This is plain Xen + their own home-made "secret" toolstack (built year after year).

They also implement features on their side, sometimes valuable stuff, sadly it seems there is a lack of sharing. And because Xen is GPL and not aGPL, they are not forced to give it back.

Sometimes, you see Xen people developing a feature which is already working in Amazon. That's a bit sad when you have to do things twice, but you know, big corps...