One approach to using cloud resources to run HTCondor jobs is to use the =condor_annex= tool to expand an existing pool onto the cloud (see HowToUseCondorAnnexWithOnDemandInstances). Another approach, documented here, is to create a new HTCondor pool entirely in the cloud. The HTCondor team maintains an AWS Marketplace entry to help simplify the process. These instructions assume you already have an AWS account and a key pair, as well as experience using AWS and HTCondor.
+Although this approach doesn't allow jobs already in a queue to run on cloud resources, it has the advantage that all file-transfer between the queue and the execute nodes occurs within the cloud, which could lead to substantial performance improvements and cost reductions.
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{section: Overview}
The general approach will be to use the Marketplace entry to start a _head node_, which will be the brains of the new HTCondor pool, as well as be where you'll log in to and submit jobs from. Once the head node is up and running, you'll use =condor_annex= to add cloud resources to your new pool. Then you can start running jobs, and when they're done, shut everything down.
