Skeddly has announced it has expanded its free usage tier. The enhancements provide more opportunities to backup cloud instances free of charge to ensure that should disaster strike, cloud instances can easily be recovered.
Under the previous free usage tier, Skeddly offered users 5 free EBS snapshots. The enhancements see the number of free EBS snapshots increased to 10, doubling the previous allowance.
Skeddly has also allowed users to use up those EBS snapshots by taking advantage of the following functions, which are also included under the new free usage tier:
- Create EBS Snapshot
- Create Multiple EBS Snapshots
- Backup EC2 Instances
- Backup Multiple EC2 Instances
Skeddly notes that the Managed Instances feature also uses the Backup EC2 instance action and is similarly covered under the free usage tier and will allow users to receive their free snapshots.
Skeddly is also offering users 10 free AMI images under the free usage tier. Those images can be created using the actions: Create AMI Image and Create Multiple AMI images. This additional inclusion is intended to encourage users to create backup images of their EC2 instances.
If AMI images are created, should the unthinkable happen, it will be possible to easily restore EC2 instances from the AMI images. Currently, the free usage tier also includes 100 free EC2 instance starts and 100 free EC2 stops.
If users want to create more snapshots or start and stop more EC2 instances than are covered under the free usage tier, they are charged per action, not by the number of users or the size of the organization.
The updated free usage tier was introduced on July 1, 2015.
The changes make it much easier to start using the Skeddly service. The free usage tier continues after the initial 30-day free trial has ended. However, customers are encouraged to upgrade to a paid account after the initial 30-day trial is over, even if they do remain within the free usage tier.