AWS Virtual Machine

AWS Virtual Machine

In Amazon Web Services (AWS), virtual machines are commonly referred to as “EC2 instances.” EC2 stands for Elastic Compute Cloud, and it’s the service that provides scalable virtual servers (instances) in the AWS cloud. These instances are used to run a wide range of applications and workloads. Here’s an overview of AWS EC2 instances, which are essentially virtual machines:

1. EC2 Instances: EC2 instances are virtual machines that can be provisioned in the AWS cloud. You can think of them as virtual servers that come in various sizes and configurations to meet different compute, memory, and storage requirements.
2. Instance Types: AWS offers a wide variety of instance types, each optimized for specific use cases. These instance types range from general-purpose instances to specialized instances designed for high-performance computing, machine learning, memory-intensive applications, and more.
3. Operating Systems: You can choose from various operating systems when launching an EC2 instance, including Amazon Linux, Windows Server, Ubuntu, CentOS, and more. AWS also provides Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) with pre-configured software and settings for specific purposes.
4. Scalability: EC2 instances are designed to be highly scalable. You can easily scale up or down by adding or removing instances based on your application’s demand. This makes them suitable for handling varying workloads.
5. Storage Options: AWS offers different storage options for EC2 instances, including Elastic Block Store (EBS) for block storage and instance store volumes for temporary storage. You can also attach network-attached storage (NAS) and use Amazon S3 for object storage.
6. Security: EC2 instances can be secured using security groups and network access control lists (ACLs) to control inbound and outbound traffic. You can also use Identity and Access Management (IAM) to manage user access to instances.
7. Monitoring: AWS provides monitoring and management tools like Amazon CloudWatch to collect and track metrics, set alarms, and gain insights into the performance of your instances.
8. Networking: EC2 instances can be launched in Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs), allowing you to create isolated network environments. You can configure network settings, assign public or private IP addresses, and use load balancers for distributing traffic.
9. High Availability: You can configure instances for high availability by distributing them across multiple Availability Zones (AZs) within a region. This ensures redundancy and fault tolerance.
10. Auto Scaling: Auto Scaling allows you to automatically adjust the number of instances in response to changing demand, ensuring that your applications can handle traffic spikes efficiently.
11. Pricing: EC2 instances come with different pricing models, including On-Demand Instances, Reserved Instances (for cost savings), and Spot Instances (for cost-effective, interruptible workloads).