What is the Difference between a Light, Medium or Heavy utilization Reserved instances on EC2?

Question

They talk about the different utilization instances, but I can\'t find a single place that actually states what the difference is between a light utilization Large instance or a

Answer 1

on demand, light, medium, and heavy offer different up-front vs hourly costs, with progressively higher up-front costs, and lower per-hour costs..

according to http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/reserved-instances/

Light Utilization RIs – The break-even point for a Light Utilization Linux RI (vs. On-Demand Instances) is 28% for a 1-year term or 11% of a 3-year term. If you expect to use your instance more than that, an RI will save you money.

Medium Utilization RIs – The break-even point for a Medium Utilization Linux RI (vs. Light Utilization Reserved Instances) is 41% for a 1-year term or 19% of a 3-year term.

Heavy Utilization RIs – The break-even point for a Heavy Utilization Linux RIs (vs. Medium Utilization Reserved Instances) is 56% for a 1-year term or 35% of a 3-year term.