SEATTLE, USA: Amazon Web Services LLC (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. has launched Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) running Microsoft Windows Server and Microsoft SQL Server in its EU Region, allowing customers to access Windows-based compute resources for Europe and running on the reliable and proven AWS cloud.

Also starting today, the AWS Management Console will provide support for Amazon EC2 in the EU enabling developers to manage their Amazon EC2 resources in the EU Region using a simple, point-and-click web interface.

Launched in August of 2006, Amazon EC2 is the popular AWS service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud for businesses and developers.

Amazon EC2 running Microsoft Windows is a fast and dependable environment for deploying applications using the Microsoft Web Platform, including ASP.NET, AJAX, Silverlight, and Internet Information Server (IIS).

With these announcements, Amazon EC2 running Windows is now joining Linux/Unix-based Amazon EC2 environments, the Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), and Amazon CloudFront in the EU Region.

“Many AWS customers have asked us for Amazon EC2 running Windows instances in Europe,” said Peter De Santis, general manager of Amazon EC2. “Businesses and developers can now access and manage all of their compute resources, whether Windows-based or Linux/Unix-based, close to their European customers, partners, and other computing services including Amazon S3.”

“Our European clients with Windows-based services will now recognise that Amazon has eradicated one of the last barriers to cloud adoption. Amazon EC2 running Windows adds to the already compelling benefits of speed, flexibility, and cost-reduction when moving to our European Amazon-based service,” said Karl Deacon, CTO Capgemini Outsourcing UK.

Also announced today, the AWS Management Console now supports the Amazon EC2 EU Region, allowing developers to start and stop Amazon EC2 instances, view and perform actions on running instances, and manage Amazon Elastic Block Store volumes with simple clicks of a mouse.

The AWS Management Console provides a quick, global picture of a developer’s cloud computing environment, giving them an easy tool for managing their AWS cloud-based assets.