Skip to main content

Amazon EC2 Learning & Revision Guide

Overview​

Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) is AWS's Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering that provides scalable virtual machines in the cloud. When revising EC2, focus on the core components that are commonly used in real-world environments.

1. EC2 Instances​

Virtual machines used to run applications and workloads in AWS.

Key Topics​

  • Launch and terminate instances
  • Start, stop, reboot, and recover instances
  • Instance metadata and user data
  • Instance monitoring and health checks

Purchasing Options​

  • On-Demand Instances
  • Reserved Instances
  • Spot Instances
  • Dedicated Hosts / Dedicated Instances

2. Amazon Machine Images (AMI)​

AMIs are templates used to launch EC2 instances.

Key Topics​

  • AWS-provided AMIs
  • Marketplace AMIs
  • Custom AMIs
  • Creating AMIs from existing servers
  • AMI sharing and copying across regions

3. Elastic Block Store (EBS)​

Persistent block storage attached to EC2 instances.

Key Topics​

  • EBS volume types
  • Attach and detach volumes
  • Resize volumes
  • Encryption
  • Performance considerations

4. EBS Snapshots​

Snapshots are backups of EBS volumes stored in Amazon S3.

Key Topics​

  • Creating snapshots
  • Restoring volumes from snapshots
  • Cross-region snapshot copy
  • Snapshot lifecycle management

5. Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM)​

Automates EBS snapshot creation and retention.

Key Topics​

  • Backup schedules
  • Retention policies
  • Automated snapshot cleanup
  • Disaster recovery use cases

6. Security Groups​

Virtual firewalls that control inbound and outbound traffic.

Key Topics​

  • Inbound rules
  • Outbound rules
  • Security group referencing
  • Common ports and protocols
  • Best practices

7. Elastic IP Addresses​

Static public IP addresses for EC2 instances.

Key Topics​

  • Allocate Elastic IP
  • Associate and disassociate
  • Failover scenarios
  • Cost considerations

8. Elastic Network Interfaces (ENI)​

Virtual network adapters attached to EC2 instances.

Key Topics​

  • Primary and secondary private IPs
  • Multiple network interfaces
  • Failover use cases
  • Network troubleshooting

9. Load Balancers​

Distribute traffic across multiple EC2 instances.

Key Topics​

  • Application Load Balancer (ALB)
  • Network Load Balancer (NLB)
  • Health checks
  • Listener rules
  • SSL/TLS termination

10. Target Groups​

Logical groups of resources that receive traffic from load balancers.

Key Topics​

  • Instance targets
  • IP targets
  • Health checks
  • Routing configurations

11. Auto Scaling Groups (ASG)​

Automatically adjust the number of EC2 instances based on demand.

Key Topics​

  • Desired capacity
  • Minimum and maximum capacity
  • Scaling policies
  • Health checks
  • Instance refresh

12. Placement Groups​

Control how EC2 instances are placed within AWS infrastructure.

Key Topics​

  • Cluster Placement Group
  • Spread Placement Group
  • Partition Placement Group

Note: Used in specialized high-performance or highly available workloads.

13. EC2 Trust Stores & Certificates​

Manage trusted certificate authorities for secure communication.

Key Topics​

  • TLS/SSL concepts
  • Certificate management
  • Integration with AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)

14. Monitoring & Troubleshooting​

Monitor instance health and performance.

Key Topics​

  • CloudWatch Metrics
  • CloudWatch Logs
  • EC2 Status Checks
  • System Logs
  • Performance troubleshooting

Revision Checklist​

Before considering EC2 revision complete, ensure you understand:

  • EC2 Instance Lifecycle
  • Instance Purchasing Options
  • AMIs
  • EBS Volumes
  • EBS Snapshots
  • Data Lifecycle Manager
  • Security Groups
  • Elastic IPs
  • Network Interfaces
  • Load Balancers
  • Target Groups
  • Auto Scaling Groups
  • Placement Groups
  • Monitoring & Troubleshooting