What is Amazon EC2?
Amazon EC2 is the deepest and broadest compute platform which includes all the services of a computing device. It has over 500 choices and instances of storage, networking, processor, and operating system - all in the flexibility of a virtual environment.
This is a scalable service, which means you allocate RAM, ROM, and storage, and configure networking and security according to your needs. You can even launch as many virtual servers (instances) as you want. And all that without purchasing or renting hardware. If your business needs to go up or down you can configure the Amazon EC2 instances per requirements. Configuring capacity is done easily with the simple web service interface.
The word ‘elastic’ in EC2 is very important because scalability is the name of the game, which makes this system very time and cost-effective. It gives you the ability to boot and start a new device in basically no time at all, and then configure it daily. Also, you can even remove the virtual device after you no longer need it. Furthermore, you save money because you are charged based on your usage. All of this helps with developing applications better and faster, giving you control over computing resources.
What differentiates EC2 from S3 is that S3 is used to store and retrieve data from AWS. EC2 offers the additional option of running servers in the cloud. However, both of these products can be used in conjunction.
Starting with EC2 is rather simple. After you sign up for an account at Amazon’s AWS website, you can manage EC2 via the AWS Command Line Tools (CLI), AWS Management Console, or AWS Software Developer Kits (SDKs). You will be able to choose EC2 in the AWS service dashboard. In that console, you will find the ‘launch instance’. Then you will be met with 2 options: you can either choose an already configured Amazon Machine Image (AMI) or create your own with customized settings.
Amazon EC2 benefits
Customizable
You have a lot of instance types to choose from. You can configure your CPU, storage, memory, and networking capacity according to your requirements. Moreover, you can assign tags (metadata) to your EC2 resources. After you’re done setting your instance you can control it however you want.
Operating system support
EC2 offers a wide range of operating systems you can choose from when creating your AMI. It supports operating systems such as Microsoft Windows Server, Linux, Debian, CentOS, Red Hat Enterprise, UNIX, Windows Server, etc.
Secure
With EC2, your virtual device is located in a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). A firewall enables you to specify an IP range, ports, and protocols that can reach your AMI. You decide if you want your instance to be exposed or not. Also, it uses key pairs for secure login information.
Automated scaling
The compute infrastructure automatically scales up or down to meet your business needs. An increase in traffic won’t slow or block down the device. The increase or decrease in capacity is done in real-time.
Multiple availability zones
AWS is spread across 20 worldwide regions with 61 availability zones (AZs). Your instances can be launched in one or more AZs, and scale up and down. This makes the process reliable because it helps with fault tolerance and stability to avoid delays in services.
Cost-effective
You only pay for the capacity you use. There are several payment options for you to choose from:
- On-Demand instances - you create instances and pay for them by the hour, without long-term commitments.
- Reserved instances - a contract commitment that gives you a price discount. There are three payment options for this one: No Upfront, Partial Upfront, and All Upfront. You can even buy second-hand Reserved Instances from the Amazon EC2 marketplace.
- Spot instances - you bid for space compute capacity in the Amazon Web Service cloud. The discount for this instance is very steep. This is best for businesses that have flexible working hours for their projects.
- Dedicated host - a physical server with EC2 instance capacity. It allows you to use your existing server-bound software licenses (e.g. Microsoft Windows Server). You pay a dedicated host by hour used.
Conclusion
Amazon EC2 (Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud) provides scalable computing capacity services in the Amazon Web Service (AWS) cloud. ‘Elastic’ means that is fully automatically scalable, adjusting to your business needs in real-time.
There are many other benefits to using EC2 as well, like it being available in multiple availability zones and providing customizable and secure instances. One of its greatest benefits is that is cost-effective. There are 4 different models that businesses can choose from: On-Demand instances, Reserved instances, Spot instances, and Dedicated hosts.
If you want to know more:
- visit our cloud migration service page;
- give us a call at +385 1 3141 562;
- contact our sales department at sales@sedmiodjel.com.
