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I've set up several AWS RDS on-demand instances. Each time, the process was the same, and it included selecting instance type, capacity, storage, etc. When I'm done, and click on the instance icon, I get the end point details, DB name, user name, etc.

Today, I tried setting up a reserved instance, expecting to see the same, but that was not the case. The instance was created, without asking me for storage, DB name, user name or password. I can see the instance in the dashboard, but when I click on it, it does not show me any of these details. I browsed through the AWS RDS details, but could not locate to help me figure out how to connect to the instance, configure the DB, etc. Any ideas where I should be looking for help? This is a MySQL reserved instance.

EastsideDev
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2 Answers2

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Reserved instances are a billing construct only.

If you buy a reserved instance for a m1.small in us-west-2a, all that means is that one of your on-demand RDS instances that's an m1.small in us-west-2a receives that lower hourly price (and incidentally, if you delete that instance and make a new one, the reservation's lower hourly rate just shifts onto the new instance). No instance is launched by reserving one.

ceejayoz
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    Great, thank you. I wish this was mentioned someone on the AWS site, or if it is, I missed it. – EastsideDev Feb 26 '14 at 20:34
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    It's a bit confusing, but it's definitely mentioned. https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/purchasing-options/reserved-instances/ " An instance hour will only be charged at the On-Demand rate when your total quantity of instances running that hour exceeds the number of applicable Reserved Instances you own." – ceejayoz Feb 26 '14 at 20:41
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    huh? so buying a reserved instance is just buying the ability to run one actual instance at that price? and so when you create an instance, the reserved instance price gets attached to a real instance that matches? it's just a form of pre-payment for an actual instance? – simpleuser Sep 11 '17 at 17:55
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    @simpleuser That's correct. – ceejayoz Sep 11 '17 at 18:43
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    Hours trying to figure this out... I really wish AWS would hire some UI/UX people. This is what the internet would be like if only programmers worked on everything. – Adrian Carr Dec 24 '18 at 23:56
  • This answer should be posted on top the RESERVED INSTANCE page. It is definitely not obvious because the expected behavior is like that of the ON DEMAND instance creation. – IMB Feb 01 '22 at 19:12
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Think of it as purchasing a licence for one of your existing instances you already have rather than creating a new instance.

Mark Compton
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