Understanding Amazon EC2: A Beginner’s Guide

If you’re looking for a scalable, flexible, and cost-effective cloud computing solution, then Amazon EC2 could be the perfect option for you. Amazon EC2, short for Elastic Compute Cloud, is a cloud computing service offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that allows users to rent virtual servers in the cloud. With EC2, users have complete control over their instances and can launch them in different regions and availability zones, providing geographical redundancy.

In this article, we’ll dive into the importance of EC2, its features, pricing options, and how to create an EC2 instance from scratch.

So, let’s get started!

What is EC2?

According to AWS, Amazon EC2 is a cloud computing platform that offers a wide variety of computing resources to its users. With over 500 instances and the option to choose the latest processor, storage, networking, operating system, and purchase model, Amazon EC2 helps its users match the specific requirements of their workload.

Users can launch instances in different regions such as US East (N. Virginia) and US West (California) and availability zones within those regions, which provides them with geographical redundancy. EC2 instances are managed through an API or a web console, and users have complete control over the instance they launch. EC2 instances can be used for a variety of purposes such as running applications, hosting websites, running web servers and databases, batch processing jobs, and much more.

So Why Should You Use Amazon EC2?

Amazon EC2 is popular among developers, IT professionals, and businesses due to the following reasons:

1. Scalability: EC2 provides scalable computing resources that can be increased or decreased per the user’s needs. This means users can quickly scale up or down depending on the workload.
2. Flexibility: EC2 instances can be configured with different specifications such as CPU, RAM, storage, and networking capacity. Users can choose the instance type that meets their specific needs.
3. High Availability: EC2 instances can be launched in different regions and availability zones, providing users with geographical redundancy.
4. Cost-effective: EC2 instances are available in different pricing options, including on-demand, reserved, and spot instances. Users can choose the pricing option that fits their budget.
5. Security: EC2 instances come with built-in security features such as security groups and network ACLs, which help in securing the instances and data.
6. Integration: EC2 instances can be integrated with other AWS services, including Amazon S3, Amazon RDS, Amazon VPC, and more.

How does the EC2 Pricing work?

EC2 pricing is based on the instance type, usage, and pricing option. There are 4 pricing options for EC2 instances:

Spot Instances:

Spot Instances lets you take advantage of unused EC2 capacity in the AWS cloud. They are available for up to 90% discount compared to the On-Demand prices. There is no upfront fee or long-term commitment needed. Spot Instances are ideal for cost-sensitive, compute-intensive use cases that can withstand interruption.

Saving Plans:

Saving Plans offer low prices in exchange for a commitment of a certain usage for a 1 or 3-year term. According to AWS, when you sign up for a Savings Plan, you will be charged the discounted Savings Plans price for your usage up to your commitment. There are two types of Savings plans offered by AWS: Compute Savings Plans and EC2 Instance Savings Plans.

Reserved:

Reserved Instances allow you to purchase usage of EC2 instances in advance for a significant discount compared to On-Demand prices. It provides a Capacity Reservation when used in a specific Availability Zone. A commitment of a 1 or 3-year term is required for the discount. Reserved Instances are ideal for steady-state workloads and predictable usage.

On-Demand:

You pay for computing capacity by the hour/second. There is no upfront fee or long-term commitment required. On-Demand Instances are ideal for unpredictable workloads as well as for dev/test environments.

Dedicated Host:

Dedicated Hosts are physical servers dedicated just for your use. It allows you to have control over which instances are deployed on that host. They are useful if you have server-bound software licenses that use metrics like per-core, per-socket, or per-VM.

Dedicated Instance:

Dedicated Instances are virtualized instances on hardware just for you. They also use physically dedicated EC2 servers but do not provide the additional visibility and controls of dedicated hosts.

Learn more about EC2 Pricing: https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/

Launch an EC2 Instance

Prior to beginning our demonstration on launching an EC2 instance from scratch, it is important to familiarize yourself with some key features and services:

1. Instance types: EC2 instances are available in different types, each designed for specific workloads. Instance types range from general-purpose instances to compute-optimized instances, memory-optimized instances, and more.
2. AMIs: Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) are pre-configured images that users can use to launch instances. AMIs can include the operating system, software, and application stack.
3. EBS volumes: EC2 instances come with Elastic Block Store (EBS) volumes, which are persistent block storage volumes that can be attached to EC2 instances. EBS volumes can be used for storing data and can be configured for high performance or high availability.
4. Elastic IP addresses: Elastic IP addresses are static IP addresses that can be attached to EC2 instances. Elastic IP addresses provide a way to maintain the same IP address even if the instance is stopped or terminated.
5. Auto Scaling: Auto Scaling allows users to automatically increase or decrease the number of EC2 instances based on the workload. This helps in ensuring that the application remains highly available and responsive as well as reducing the operational cost.
6. Load Balancing: Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) is a service that distributes incoming traffic to multiple EC2 instances. This helps in distributing the workload and providing high availability.
7. Virtual Private Cloud (VPC): VPC allows users to create a private network for their EC2 instances. This helps in securing the instances and providing a more controlled environment.
8. Subnet: It is a part of the VPC’s IP address range used to launch resources such as EC2 instances and load balancers. Subnets are associated with one or more availability zones for fault tolerance and resiliency. Each subnet has its own network access control list and security group rules for granular control over network traffic. A subnet can be public or private.
9. Security Groups: Security groups act as a virtual firewall that controls the inbound and outbound traffic to an EC2 instance. Security groups can be configured to allow traffic based on IP addresses, ports, and protocols.
10. AWS Free Tier Account: Make sure to sign up for an AWS Free Tier Account. Google “AWS Free Tier Account” or simply use the following link https://aws.amazon.com/free/.

Let’s Launch Our First Instance!

1. Go to the AWS Management Console and navigate to the EC2 service.

2. Click on the “Launch Instance” button to start the EC2 instance launch wizard.

3. Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) as “Amazon Linux”.

4. Choose an instance type as “t2.micro”.

5. Under the Key pair section, click “Create new key pair”. It will be used to authenticate.

6. Enter the Key pair name and click “Create Keypair” and save the file on your computer.

7. Once you are back on the EC2 page, click on refresh ⟳ and select your newly created Key pair.

8. Leave Network settings as default. This will automatically create a security group, enable SSH as an inbound rule, select the default VPC, assign a public IP address to your EC2 instance, and place the instance in a public subnet.

9. Add EBS volumes that will be attached to the instance. You can choose the volume type, size, and performance level.

10. Click “Launch Instance” under the Summary panel on the right.

11. If everything goes well, you will get a message in a green box.

12. Click on “View all instances” on the bottom left.

13. Now you have to wait for a few minutes for a “Status Check” to pass. Feel free to refresh your page.

14. Select your instance and click “Connect” on the top right of the screen

15. And click on “Connect” on the next page to connect to your instance.

16. You should now connect to your EC2 Linux instance!

Hold on a sec! We’re not finished just yet!

Before we shut down our AWS Consoles, we need to terminate our EC2 instances to avoid getting hit with any extra charges. Luckily, everything we’ve done so far falls under the AWS Free Tier, so we won’t be out of pocket.

To terminate our instance:

1. Let’s go back to the instances tab.
2. Select your instance and click “Instance state” and click on “Terminate instance”

Conclusion

In conclusion, Amazon EC2 is a popular and versatile cloud computing solution that offers a wide range of features and benefits. Its scalability, flexibility, high availability, cost-effectiveness, and integration with other AWS services make it a top choice for developers, IT professionals, and businesses. With its different pricing options and easy-to-use console, users can quickly launch and manage EC2 instances based on their specific needs. Additionally, features such as security groups, Elastic Block Store volumes, and Elastic Load Balancing provide users with the tools they need to secure, scale, and optimize their EC2 instances. Whether it’s running applications, hosting websites and databases, or batch processing jobs, EC2 can help users match their workload’s specific requirements while providing geographical redundancy and scalability.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post about EC2. I hope you found it informative and helpful in your AWS journey.

As I continue to explore the various services offered by AWS, I look forward to sharing my findings and experiences with you through upcoming articles. By providing valuable insights and tips, I aim to contribute to your understanding of this dynamic and constantly evolving field.

If you found this post useful, please consider sharing it with others who may benefit from it. And don’t forget to stay tuned for more upcoming articles, where we can learn and build together. Thank you for your support, and happy exploring!