Learn Amazon EC2 and understand how AWS virtual servers, instance types, AMIs, storage, networking, security, and scaling work together.
EC2 Learning Path
Understand EC2 Instances
Choose Amazon Machine Images
Select Instance Types
Configure Security Groups
Manage Storage and Networking
Introduction
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, commonly known as Amazon EC2, provides virtual servers that can run applications and workloads in the AWS cloud.
Instead of purchasing and maintaining physical servers, you can create virtual compute resources based on your workload requirements.
EC2 is commonly used for websites, APIs, application servers, development environments, backend services, automation, and many other cloud workloads.
Core Concepts
Before launching EC2 workloads, it is important to understand the main components used to create and manage virtual servers.
An EC2 instance is a virtual server running in AWS. You can use instances to run applications, websites, APIs, development environments, and other workloads.
Key Topics
An Amazon Machine Image, or AMI, provides the software configuration used when launching an EC2 instance, including the operating system and optional software.
Key Topics
EC2 instance types provide different combinations of compute, memory, storage, and networking resources for different workload requirements.
Key Topics
EC2 instances operate inside AWS networking environments and can use security groups and other controls to manage network access.
Key Topics
EC2 Architecture
EC2 instances typically run inside an Amazon VPC. The VPC contains networking components such as subnets and routing rules.
Depending on the workload, an EC2 instance may communicate with the internet, other cloud services, databases, load balancers, storage systems, or private infrastructure.
Simplified EC2 Architecture
Internet
│
▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ Internet Gateway│
└─────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ VPC │
│ │
│ ┌───────────┐ │
│ │ Subnet │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ EC2 │ │
│ │ Instance │ │
│ └───────────┘ │
│ │
└─────────────────┘Launching an Instance
Launching an EC2 instance involves selecting the required operating system, compute resources, networking configuration, security settings, and storage.
Select the operating system and software configuration that will be used to create the EC2 instance.
Select compute and memory resources based on the requirements of your application or workload.
Select the VPC and subnet where the EC2 instance will run.
Apply security groups to control permitted inbound and outbound network traffic.
Attach the required storage volumes for the operating system, applications, and data.
Review the configuration and launch the virtual server into your AWS environment.
Instance Types
Different workloads require different combinations of CPU, memory, storage, and networking capabilities.
Designed for balanced workloads that require a combination of compute, memory, and networking resources.
Designed for workloads that require significant processing power and CPU performance.
Designed for applications that require large amounts of memory and fast access to in-memory data.
Designed for workloads that require high storage capacity or high-performance storage access.
Designed for specialized workloads that can use additional hardware acceleration capabilities.
Security Groups
Security groups are used to define network traffic rules for EC2 instances and other supported AWS resources.
You can configure rules based on protocols, ports, and allowed traffic sources. Security should be configured according to the requirements of the workload.
Avoid exposing unnecessary services to the public internet and follow the principle of least privilege when configuring network access.
Example Security Configuration
Inbound Rules SSH Protocol: TCP Port: 22 Source: Trusted IP Address HTTP Protocol: TCP Port: 80 Source: Allowed Traffic HTTPS Protocol: TCP Port: 443 Source: Allowed Traffic
EC2 Storage
Block storage volumes that can be attached to EC2 instances for operating systems, applications, and persistent data.
Temporary storage physically associated with certain EC2 instance types and suitable for specific temporary workloads.
Point-in-time backups that can be used for backup, recovery, and creating new storage volumes.
AWS CLI EC2 Commands
# Configure AWS CLI aws configure # Describe EC2 instances aws ec2 describe-instances # Describe available regions aws ec2 describe-regions # Start an instance aws ec2 start-instances \ --instance-ids INSTANCE_ID # Stop an instance aws ec2 stop-instances \ --instance-ids INSTANCE_ID
AWS CLI
The AWS Command Line Interface can be used to retrieve information about EC2 resources and automate infrastructure operations.
Command-line workflows can be useful when working with scripts, automation pipelines, infrastructure management, and cloud operations.
Scaling
Applications may require additional compute capacity as traffic or workload requirements increase.
EC2 workloads can be designed to scale by adding or removing compute resources based on application requirements and infrastructure architecture.
What You Will Learn
Understand how cloud virtual servers are created, configured, started, stopped, and managed.
Learn how EC2 instances connect to VPCs, subnets, security groups, and network infrastructure.
Understand how compute, storage, security, and networking work together in cloud architectures.
Learn the basic concepts behind scaling infrastructure as application requirements change.
Continue Learning
Learn the foundations of Amazon Web Services and core cloud infrastructure concepts.
🏗️Understand the core infrastructure components used to build cloud environments.
🌐Learn cloud networking concepts including virtual networks, subnets, routing, and security.
Next Step
You now understand the basic concepts behind Amazon EC2. Continue exploring AWS services and build practical cloud infrastructure projects.