Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is a web service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud. It allows developers to obtain and configure virtual servers with minimal friction.

What is an EC2 Instance?

An EC2 instance is a virtual server in Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) for running applications on the AWS infrastructure. You can launch instances with various operating systems, including Windows and Linux, and configure them with different hardware capacities.

Creating an EC2 Instance

step 1: Signing In to AWS Management Console

• Go to the AWS Management Console and sign in with your credentials.

Step 2: Navigating to EC2 Dashboard

• In the console, search for “EC2” and select the EC2 service.

Step 3: Launch Instance

• Click the “Launch Instance” button.
• Select an Amazon Machine Image (AMI): Choose an AMI, which is a pre-configured template including the operating system and necessary software. You can select from:
• Quick Start AMIs: Provided by AWS and often used for common configurations.
• AWS Marketplace AMIs: Provided by third-party vendors, often including additional software.
• Community AMIs: Shared by the AWS community.
• My AMIs: Your custom AMIs.

Step 4: Choosing an Instance Type

• Select an instance type that meets your requirements. Each type offers different combinations of CPU, memory, storage, and networking capacity.

Step 5: Configuring Security Group

• Configure the security group to control inbound and outbound traffic to your instance. Ensure you have the necessary ports open for your applications.

Step 6: Review and Launch

• Review your configuration and click “Launch.”
• Select an existing key pair or create a new one for SSH access to your instance.
• Click “Launch Instances.”

Key Features of EC2:

• Scalability: Easily scale instances up or down according to demand.
• Flexibility: Choose from a wide range of instance types optimized for different use cases.
• Cost-Effective: Pay only for the compute time you use.
• Reliability: Built on a highly reliable infrastructure with guaranteed uptime.