Cloud Computing
AWS EC2
Definition
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is a part of Amazon.com's cloud-computing platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS), that allows users to rent virtual computers on which to run their own computer applications.
Why It Matters
EC2 is the core IaaS offering of AWS, providing scalable computing capacity in the cloud. It allows developers to quickly provision virtual servers (called "instances") of various sizes and configurations, eliminating the need for upfront hardware investment.
Contextual Example
A developer needs a web server. They log into the AWS console and launch an EC2 instance, choosing the operating system (e.g., Linux), CPU, memory, and storage. Within minutes, they have a fully functional server that they can connect to and deploy their website on.
Common Misunderstandings
- EC2 instances are the virtual machines of the AWS cloud.
- It is highly elastic, meaning you can easily launch more instances when you need more capacity and terminate them when you don't.