As a cloud practitioner, it's essential to have a good understanding of Amazon Web Services' Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and its features. EC2 is a core service in AWS, allowing users to create and manage virtual servers in the cloud. This article serves as a cheat sheet for EC2, covering key concepts and features that every cloud practitioner should know.

EC2 Instance

EC2 instance is a virtual server in the cloud, which you can launch in a matter of minutes. AWS provides a wide variety of instance types, ranging from general-purpose to compute-optimized, memory-optimized, and storage-optimized instances. Each instance type has different specifications, including CPU, RAM, and storage.

Security Groups

A security group acts as a virtual firewall for your EC2 instances. It controls inbound and outbound traffic to your instances, and you can allow or deny traffic based on IP addresses, ports, and protocols. You can assign one or more security groups to an instance, and you can modify the security groups anytime.

EC2 User Data

EC2 user data is a script or data that you can pass to an instance when you launch it. The instance can then use the data to configure itself, install software, or perform other tasks. User data is commonly used to automate the instance configuration process, such as installing web servers, setting up databases, and more.

SSH

Secure Shell (SSH) is a protocol used to access remote systems securely. You can use SSH to connect to your EC2 instances and manage them from your local machine. To use SSH, you need an SSH key pair, which consists of a public key and a private key. You can create an SSH key pair using AWS or use an existing one.

EC2 Instance Role

An EC2 instance role is an IAM (Identity and Access Management) role that you can assign to an EC2 instance. The role provides the instance with permissions to access AWS resources, such as S3 buckets, DynamoDB tables, and more. You can assign a role to an instance when you launch it, or you can modify the role anytime.

Purchasing Options

AWS provides three purchasing options for EC2 instances: On-Demand, Reserved Instances, and Spot Instances. On-Demand instances are charged by the hour, and you can start and stop them anytime. Reserved Instances provide a discount for a one- or three-year term, but you need to pay upfront. Spot Instances allow you to bid for unused EC2 capacity and can be significantly cheaper than On-Demand instances.

Conclusion

EC2 is a powerful service in AWS, allowing users to launch and manage virtual servers in the cloud. In this article, we covered key concepts and features that every cloud practitioner should know, including EC2 instances, security groups, user data, SSH, instance roles, and purchasing options. By understanding these concepts, you can better manage your EC2 instances and optimize your cloud infrastructure.