3) EC2 - Elastic Compute Cloud

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing core AWS EC2 concepts, instance types, security groups, standard networking ports, and purchasing options from Stephane Maarek's AWS lecture series.

Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud)

An Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering from AWS that allows users to rent virtual machines, store data on virtual drives (EBS), distribute load across machines (ELB), and scale services using Auto Scaling Groups (ASG).

Bootstrapping

The process of launching setup commands automatically when a virtual machine starts for the first time.

EC2 User Data

A script executed automatically with root privileges only once during the initial boot of an EC2 instance, used to automate tasks like software installation and updates.

EC2 Naming Convention

The structured format used to identify instance capabilities, formatted as [instance class][generation].[size] (e.g., in m5.2xlarge: 'm' is the instance class, '5' is the generation, and '2xlarge' is the size).

General Purpose Instances

EC2 instance types (such as t2.micro or m5) that offer a balanced ratio of compute, memory, and networking resources for diverse workloads like web servers and code repositories.

Compute Optimized Instances

EC2 instance types (such as C5 or C6g) equipped with high-performance processors for compute-intensive workloads like batch processing, media transcoding, HPC, scientific modeling, and machine learning inference.

Memory Optimized Instances

EC2 instance types (such as R5, R6g, or X1e) engineered to deliver fast performance for workloads processing large datasets in memory, such as in-memory databases and distributed cache stores.

Storage Optimized Instances

EC2 instance types (such as I3, D2, or H1) designed for tasks requiring high, sequential read and write access to large datasets on local storage, delivering tens of thousands of low-latency IOPS.

Security Group

A virtual firewall operating outside of an EC2 instance that regulates inbound and outbound network traffic to specific ports and IP ranges using allow-only rules.

Port 22

The standard network port used for SSH (Secure Shell) to access Linux instances remotely, as well as for SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol).

Port 21

The network port used for File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to upload files into a file share.

Port 80

The network port used for unencrypted HTTP traffic when accessing web applications.

Port 443

The network port used for encrypted HTTPS traffic when accessing secured websites.

Port 3389

The network port used for Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to connect remotely to a Windows instance.

EC2 Instance Connect

A browser-based tool provided by AWS to connect to Linux instances without managing key files, functioning out-of-the-box on Amazon Linux 2 when port 22 is open.

On-Demand Instances

An EC2 purchasing option where capacity is billed per second or hour with no upfront cost or long-term commitment, best suited for short-term and unpredictable workloads.

Reserved Instances

An EC2 purchasing option offering up to a 72% discount compared to On-Demand in exchange for a 1-year or 3-year commitment specifying instance type, region, OS, and tenancy.

Convertible Reserved Instances

A Reserved Instance option providing up to a 66% discount while allowing flexibility to alter the instance family, type, OS, scope, or tenancy over the commitment period.

EC2 Savings Plans

A flexible pricing model offering up to 72% savings based on a monetary commitment ($/hour) for 1 or 3 years across instance sizes, OS, and tenancy within a specific instance family and region.

Spot Instances

The most cost-efficient EC2 purchasing model (up to 90% discount) where spare capacity is rented, but instances can be interrupted at any time if capacity is reclaimed or the price threshold is crossed.

Dedicated Hosts

A physical server entirely reserved for an account, granting full control over instance placement and visibility of physical sockets/cores to meet strict compliance or Bring Your Own License (BYOL) needs.

Dedicated Instances

EC2 instances running on hardware isolated for a single customer's AWS account, without providing host visibility or control over physical placement.

Capacity Reservations

An option to reserve On-Demand capacity in a specific Availability Zone for any duration without requiring a time commitment or providing billing discounts.

Shared Responsibility Model for EC2

A security model where AWS manages hardware, host isolation, and underlying infrastructure, while the customer manages OS updates/patches, security groups, software, IAM roles, and data security.