ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder on Amazon Web Services helps you build and maintain an ArcGIS Server site on Amazon Web Services (AWS). It is a lightweight desktop application downloadable by anyone who has purchased ArcGIS Server.
When you build a site on Amazon Web Services, there are various components that you have to create, connect, and maintain, such as a VPC instance, a security group, a key pair file, and a load balancer. You can use Cloud Builder, which hides the complexity of assembling and administering your site.
This topic briefly introduces the things you can do with Cloud Builder.
Build a site
Cloud Builder helps you build an ArcGIS Server site on AWS. The site can be simple or complex. It can have one ArcGIS Server machine or many ArcGIS Server machines. It can have an enterprise geodatabase attached. It can expand or shrink in response to CPU utilization.
When you create a site using Cloud Builder, you provide a license file and your primary site administrator credentials for ArcGIS Server. This allows Cloud Builder to authorize ArcGIS Server for you and create a site. When Cloud Builder has finished creating the site, it gives you a link you can use to access ArcGIS Server Manager. You can immediately begin publishing services to the site.
See Build an ArcGIS Server site on Amazon Web Services to get started.
Build a custom site
Many cloud users like to save their own set of services and data to a machine image that they can use to launch identical instances in the future. This is helpful when scaling out a site with more machines or when replacing a machine that has been taken offline. Using Cloud Builder, you can create site templates that preserve the state of your machine for future use. When launching future sites, you can use the template to ensure that your services and data are configured from the beginning.
Maintain a site
Using Cloud Builder, you can easily stop or start your site. Stopping a site is like turning off the power when you go home at night. A stopped site incurs fewer charges than a started site, and you might choose to stop your site on nights, weekends, or other off-hours. This can be a good way to cut costs if you are not running mission-critical applications or if your site is just used for development or testing purposes.
Back up a site
Cloud Builder allows you to make a backup that preserves the current state of your site, including services, apps, and data. If your site becomes corrupted or experiences other problems, you can use the backup to return to a working state.