I needed an excuse to use spot instances on AWS to test them for some upcoming projects. I chose SETI and I have to say it was a nice simple experience. It took about 30 minutes to build the linux VM, set it up with SETI and turn it into an AMI. This instance was one of the new c3.large high CPU instances. These were the financial results:
$0.45 / 14 Hrs = $0.032 per instance hour
2 Cores per instance so $0.032 / 2 = $0.016 for one core hour
SETI creates 100 points every ~12000 seconds ish - and we run 2 of these, one per core
So 3 1/3 hours * 0.016 = 0.053 cents per 100 points
So about 3p per 100 points.
AWS SETI