AWS services provide scalable, reliable, cost-effective computing resources for web and application servers, databases, and other applications. Amazon EC2 enables you to launch applications in minutes and scale them up or down in response to demand. You pay for the resources you use, not for the resources you own. You can learn more about this service here.

Features for EC2

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is a web service that provides secure, resizable compute capacity in the cloud. It is designed to make web-scale cloud computing easier for developers. Amazon EC2’s simple web service interface allows you to obtain and configure capacity with minimal friction. It completely controls your computing resources and lets you run on Amazon’s proven computing environment. AWS EC2 reduces the time required to obtain and boot new server instances to minutes, allowing you to quickly scale up and down capacity as your computing requirements change. It changes the economics of computing by allowing you to pay only for the capacity that you actually use. It enables developers to build resilient applications and isolate themselves from common failure scenarios.
Amazon EC2 is hosted in multiple locations worldwide. These locations are composed of Regions and Availability Zones. Each Region is a separate geographic area. Each Region has various isolated locations known as Availability Zones. EC2 allows you to place resources, such as instances and data, in multiple Availability Zones to protect your applications from localized failures.

AWS Regions and Availability Zones

AWS offers a variety of global cloud computing Regions, each with multiple Availability Zones. These Availability Zones allow you to operate production applications and databases that are more highly available, fault-tolerant, and scalable than would be possible from a single data center.
To select the best Region for your applications, you can consider factors such as compliance requirements, latency, and data gravity.

Compliance and Latency

Specific workloads are subject to compliance regulations requiring data to remain within a particular country or Region’s geographic boundaries. For example, suppose you are subject to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements. In that case, you may want to process and store all customer data in the European Union (EU). To support these workloads, AWS provides Regions in the EU.

Data Gravity

Data gravity is the force that attracts users and applications to the data. The larger the data set, the greater the data gravity. For example, an organization with a sizeable European user base may want to place its data in an EU Region to minimize user latency.

What can you use EC2 instances for?

AWS provides compute services that allow customers to launch and manage virtual machines in the cloud. These services are designed to make it easy to launch and manage compute resources in the cloud. EC2 is one of the most popular compute services in the AWS cloud. It provides customers various instance types, each designed for a specific workload. It also provides customers with a wide variety of storage options, including Amazon EBS, Amazon S3, and Amazon Glacier.
Amazon EC2 is an excellent choice for various workloads, including web and application servers, gaming servers, and test and development environments. It gives customers a high degree of control over their compute resources, making it an excellent choice for workloads requiring a high degree of customization. Amazon EC2 is also a good choice for workloads that are not well suited for traditional on-premises infrastructure.

What are the performance characteristics of EC2 instances?

EC2 instances provide high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities and are optimized for running large applications. These instances have a variety of performance characteristics, including:

  • Price: Instances are priced according to the amount of compute power they provide.
  • Scale: Instances can be scaled up or down to meet the needs of your application.
  • Performance: Instances are designed to deliver high performance.
  • Features: Instances come with various features, such as the ability to run multiple instances of an application concurrently, access to Amazon S3 storage, and support for Amazon EC2 security features.

What are the default security settings for Amazon EC2 instances?

Default security settings for Amazon EC2 instances include:

  • User name and password: The user name and password for instance are the same as the user name and password for the Amazon EC2 account.
  • Security group: by default, an instance is not assigned to a security group.
  • IAM role: by default, an instance does not have an IAM role.
  • Network security groups: by default, an instance is not assigned to a network security group.

What are the benefits of using Amazon EC2?

There are many benefits to using Amazon EC2, including:

  • Reduced costs: You can reduce costs by using a virtual server instead of a physical one.
  • Increased flexibility: You can quickly scale up or down your resources.
  • More control: You have more control over your infrastructure, including your computing resources, operating system, and applications.
  • Reduced management time: You can reduce your management time using pre-built, ready-to-use templates.
  • Increased security: You can increase your security by using virtual firewalls and virtual private networks.

Learning resources for Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2)

Here are the top learning resources for Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2):

If you prefer watching videos, you can check out these resources:

  • Introduction to Amazon EC2 – Elastic Cloud Server & Hosting with AWS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsRBftzZsQo
  • AWS EC2 Tutorial For Beginners
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TlukLu11Yo
  • Amazon EC2 Basics & Instances Tutorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHX-jtKIVNA