📖 What is Amazon EC2?
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) provides scalable compute capacity in the AWS cloud. It allows users to rent virtual machines (instances) with various operating systems, storage, networking, and security configurations. EC2 supports diverse workloads, from web servers to high-performance computing.
"EC2 is a foundational IaaS service. The exam will cover instance types, pricing models (On-Demand, Reserved, Spot), and security groups. Be prepared to identify appropriate instance types based on workload requirements (CPU, memory, storage)."
📚 Certification: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02)
🔑 What are the Key Concepts of Amazon EC2?
- ▸ EC2 instances are virtual servers in the cloud, offering flexibility and control over the operating system, software, and networking.
- ▸ Instance types vary significantly in CPU, memory, storage, and networking capacity, impacting performance and cost.
- ▸ AWS offers multiple purchasing options (On-Demand, Reserved, Spot) to optimize costs based on workload predictability.
- ▸ Security Groups act as virtual firewalls, controlling inbound and outbound traffic to EC2 instances at the instance level.
- ▸ Elastic Block Storage (EBS) provides persistent block storage volumes that can be attached to EC2 instances for data storage.
🎯 How does Amazon EC2 appear on the CLF-C02 Exam?
You may be asked to identify the most cost-effective EC2 purchasing option for a non-critical, fault-tolerant batch processing job that can be interrupted.
A scenario might describe a web application requiring high availability and scalability – determine the appropriate instance type and Auto Scaling configuration.
Expect questions about troubleshooting connectivity issues to an EC2 instance, focusing on Security Group rules and Network ACLs.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between EBS and Instance Store?
EBS provides persistent block storage, meaning data survives instance termination. Instance Store is temporary storage directly attached to the host machine and is lost when the instance stops.
How do I choose the right instance type?
Consider your workload's requirements. CPU-intensive tasks need compute-optimized instances, memory-intensive tasks need memory-optimized, and so on. Cost is also a factor.
Can I change the instance type after launching an instance?
Yes, you can modify the instance type, but it requires stopping the instance. Ensure the new instance type is compatible with your EBS volumes and AMI.