Amazon EC2 Basics Introduction

Summary

The video script introduces Amazon EC2, a foundational AWS service offering infrastructure as a service. It explains EC2 as a platform to rent virtual machines with customizable operating systems, compute power, RAM, storage options, and network configurations. The script highlights the flexibility of EC2, emphasizing the ability to choose instance types that fit specific application needs, from basic to high-performance options. It also mentions the AWS free tier, which includes the T2 Micro instance, suitable for beginners and cost-effective learning.

Takeaways

• 🌐 Amazon EC2 stands for Elastic Compute Cloud and is a fundamental service in AWS for infrastructure as a service.
• 🖥️ EC2 allows you to rent virtual machines, known as EC2 instances, which can be customized based on your needs.
• 💾 You can choose the operating system (Linux or Windows, but not Mac) for your EC2 instances.
• 🔋 EC2 instances can be configured with varying levels of CPU power, RAM, and storage options.
• 🚀 Storage options include network-attached storage (EBS or EFS) or hardware-attached storage (EC2 instance store).
• 🌐 Network configurations can be tailored, including the type of network card and public IP address.
• 🔒 Security for EC2 instances is managed through firewall rules, known as security groups.
• 🚀 EC2 user data allows for a bootstrap script to configure the instance at the first launch.
• 💡 EC2 offers a wide range of instance types, such as t2.micro, t2.xlarge, c5.4xlarge, and m5.8xlarge, each with different specifications like CPU, RAM, and network performance.
• 🆓 The t2.micro instance is part of the AWS free tier, providing up to 750 hours per month of usage.

Q & A

What does EC2 stand for?

EC2 stands for Elastic Compute Cloud, which is a service offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS).

What is the primary function of EC2?

EC2 allows users to rent virtual machines, store data on virtual drives, distribute load across machines, and scale services using various AWS tools.

What are the components of EC2?

EC2 includes EC2 instances (virtual machines), EBS volumes (virtual drives), Elastic Load Balancers, Auto Scaling Groups, and Security Groups.

What is the significance of being able to choose the operating system for EC2 instances?

Users can select between Linux and Windows operating systems for their EC2 instances, allowing flexibility based on their application requirements.

Why is it important to choose the right instance type for EC2?

The instance type determines the compute power, memory, storage, and network performance, which are crucial for the application's performance and cost efficiency.

What is the difference between EBS and EC2 instance store for storage?

EBS (Elastic Block Store) is a network-attached storage, while EC2 instance store is hardware-attached storage. EBS provides durability and persistence, whereas instance store is faster but ephemeral.

What is the role of the Elastic Load Balancer in EC2?

The Elastic Load Balancer helps distribute incoming application traffic across multiple EC2 instances, improving fault tolerance and availability.

What is the purpose of Auto Scaling Groups in EC2?

Auto Scaling Groups automatically adjust the number of EC2 instances in response to demand, ensuring optimal resource utilization and cost efficiency.

What is the AWS Free Tier for EC2 instances?

The AWS Free Tier includes up to 750 hours per month of t2.micro instances, allowing users to run these instances continuously for a month without additional charges.

What is the significance of the EC2 user data or bootstrap script?

EC2 user data is a script that runs at the first launch of an instance, allowing users to configure the instance automatically, such as installing software or setting up environment variables.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Introduction to Amazon EC2

This paragraph introduces Amazon EC2, which stands for Elastic Compute Cloud and is a fundamental AWS service for infrastructure as a service (IaaS). It explains that EC2 is not a single service but a collection of services that allow users to rent virtual machines (EC2 instances), store data on EBS volumes, distribute load with an elastic load balancer, and scale services using auto scaling groups. The paragraph also touches on the flexibility of choosing the operating system (Linux or Windows), compute power, RAM, storage options, network type, and firewall rules (security groups) for EC2 instances. It concludes with a mention of the EC2 user data for bootstrapping configurations upon the first launch.

Keywords

💡Amazon EC2

Amazon EC2 stands for Elastic Compute Cloud. It is a core service of AWS that allows users to rent virtual machines, providing the ability to perform infrastructure as a service. In the video, EC2 is highlighted as a fundamental component to understand how the cloud works, emphasizing its role in renting compute power on-demand.

💡Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Infrastructure as a Service is a cloud computing model where users can rent computing resources such as servers, storage, and networking. In the context of the video, EC2 offers IaaS by providing virtual machines that can be customized according to the user's needs, illustrating the flexibility and scalability of cloud computing.

💡EC2 Instances

EC2 Instances refer to the virtual machines that can be rented on Amazon EC2. These instances are the primary way users interact with EC2, allowing them to choose from various configurations such as operating system, CPU, RAM, and storage. The video script mentions that EC2 instances can be configured with different specifications to meet various application requirements.

💡EBS Volumes

EBS Volumes, or Elastic Block Store Volumes, are virtual drives provided by AWS that can be attached to EC2 instances for persistent storage. They are an essential part of the EC2 service, allowing users to store data separately from the instance itself. The script mentions EBS volumes as a way to store data on virtual drives.

💡Elastic Load Balancer

An Elastic Load Balancer is a service that distributes incoming network traffic across multiple EC2 instances, enhancing the application's availability and fault tolerance. In the video, it is mentioned as a component that can be used to distribute load across machines, highlighting its importance in managing traffic and scaling applications.

💡Auto Scaling Group

An Auto Scaling Group is a feature in AWS that automatically adjusts the number of EC2 instances in response to demand, ensuring that applications run with optimal performance and cost-efficiency. The video script discusses auto scaling as a way to scale services, indicating its role in managing compute resources dynamically.

💡Security Group

A Security Group in AWS is a virtual firewall that controls inbound and outbound traffic to EC2 instances. It is crucial for managing network access and ensuring security. The script refers to security groups as a way to handle firewall rules for EC2 instances, emphasizing their importance in network security.

💡EC2 User Data

EC2 User Data is a bootstrap script that is executed at the first launch of an EC2 instance, allowing users to configure the instance as needed. It is a powerful feature for automating the setup of new instances. The video script mentions EC2 user data as a way to configure instances at first launch.

💡T2 Micro Instance

The T2 Micro Instance is a type of EC2 instance that is part of the AWS Free Tier, offering a limited but free option for users to try out AWS services. It has one vCPU and 1 GB of memory, suitable for small applications and testing. The video script uses the T2 Micro as an example of an instance type that can be used for learning purposes.

💡AWS Free Tier

The AWS Free Tier is a program by Amazon Web Services that allows new users to explore and use a limited set of AWS services for free. It includes access to certain EC2 instances, such as the T2 Micro, for a specified number of hours per month. The script highlights the AWS Free Tier as a way to get started with AWS services without incurring costs.

💡Instance Types

Instance Types in EC2 refer to the various configurations of virtual machines available, each with different specifications like CPU, RAM, and storage. The video script provides examples of different instance types, such as T2 Micro, T2 X-Large, C5 G4X Large, and M58 X Large, illustrating the range of options users have to choose from based on their application needs.

Highlights

Amazon EC2 stands for Elastic Compute Cloud, a fundamental service for infrastructure as a service on AWS.

EC2 allows you to rent virtual machines, known as EC2 instances, with various configurations.

You can choose the operating system for EC2 instances, either Linux or Windows, with no option for Mac.

EC2 instances offer a range of options including CPU power, RAM, and storage space.

Storage options for EC2 include network-attached EBS or EFS, or hardware-attached instance store.

EC2 instances can be configured with different types of network cards and public IPs.

Security groups are used to handle firewall rules for EC2 instances.

EC2 user data allows for bootstrap scripts to configure instances at first launch.

EC2 instances can be customized extensively to fit the needs of various applications.

Different EC2 instance types, such as T2 Micro, T2 X-Large, C5 4xlarge, and M5 8xlarge, offer varying capabilities.

T2 Micro instances are part of the AWS Free Tier, providing up to 750 hours per month.

The power of the cloud with EC2 is the ability to rent compute resources on-demand.

EC2 instances can be scaled using Auto Scaling Groups or Spot Instances for flexible resource management.

Elastic Load Balancers help distribute load across multiple EC2 instances for high availability.

Understanding EC2 is crucial for grasping the concept of cloud computing and its on-demand nature.

The course will delve deeper into EC2's practical applications and additional options for users.

The flexibility of EC2 instances enables users to choose the exact specifications they need for their virtual machines.

Transcripts

on ec2 in which we will create our first

website on AWS so what is Amazon ec2

well ec2 is one of the most popular of

AWS offering it is definitely used

everywhere and what is it

well it stands for Elastic Compute cloud

and this is the way to do infrastructure

as a service on AWS

so ec2 is not just one service it's

composed of many things at a high level

so you can rent virtual machines on ec2

they're called ec2 instances you can

store data on virtual drives or EBS

volumes

you can distribute load across machines

elastic load balancer you can scale

services using an auto scaling group or

a SG and all these things do not worry

we will see in depth during this course

knowing how to use ec2 in AWS is

fundamental to understand how the cloud

works because as I said from before the

cloud is to be able to rent the compute

whenever you need on-demand and easy to

is just adds so ec2 what can we choose

for our instances so the our virtual

servers that we rent from AWS well we

can choose the operating system could it

be Linux or Windows and as you notice

there is not Mac so you cannot rent a

Mac from AWS you can just rent a Linux

or Windows

how much compute power and cores you

want on this virtual machine so how much

CPU then you need to choose how much

random access memory or Ram you want and

how much storage space so for example do

you want store it is going to be

attached through the network and we'll

see that it's with EBS or EFS or do you

want it to be Hardware attached in this

case it will be an ec2 instance store

and with the whole section on storage so

don't worry about it and then finally

the type of network you won't attach to

your ec2 instance so you want a network

card is going to be fast what kind of

public IP do you want and finally we

need to handle the firewall rules of our

c2 instance and that is the security

group and I lied finally finally there's

the bootstrap script to configure the

instance at first launch what's called

the ec2 user data so we have lots and

lots of options and as you'll see in the

hands-on

even more options at other certification

levels that you need to know in ec2

instances but at a core of it what you

need to remember is that you can choose

pretty much how you want your virtual

machine to be and you can rent it from

AWS and that is the power of the cloud

you can do this by just in the blink of

an eye really so what type of instances

do we get for ec2 and this is an example

I have hundreds and hundreds of ec2

instance types but here are five for you

so the first one is a teaching micro

very very simple it has one V CPU 1 mm 1

gigabyte of memory the storage is only

for EBS and has a low to moderate

network performance but as soon as you

increase the instant type right in the

pool if we stay in the same family so we

stay in the t2 family we go to t2

x-large now we have access to 4 dcpu-16

megabytes of RAM gigabytes of RAM sorry

and network performance of moderate if

we go to completely different new levels

so c5 g4x large which is a very

complicated name you get 16 V CPU so 16

cores you get 32 gigabytes of memory so

a lot more you get some storage that is

attached to your ec2 instance this is

why it says 400 and VME SSD now the

network is going to get really good up

to 10 gigabytes as well as the bandwidth

to talk to network storage and so as you

can see if you go to our 560 next larger

m58 x large again you have different

characteristics so the idea with this is

that you choose the kind of instance

that fits best your application and you

can use that on the cloud on demand ok

now for this instance for our course t2

micro is going to be part of the AWS

free tier you can get up to 750 hours

per month of t2 micro which represents

basically running that instance

continuously for a month and so this is

what we'll be using in the hands-on that

comes in the next lecture so this is was

a short introduction to EC - don't worry

is gonna get very very practical very

soon I will see you in the next lecture