What is AWS EC2?
What is AWS EC2?
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) is an Amazon platform that provides secure, resizable compute capacity, all in the cloud. It claims to make web-scale cloud computing easier and more accessible for developers. Its interface is designed for the user to be able to obtain and configure capacity with minimal friction (see the official documentation).
This post will be presenting the definition of AWS EC2 with some of its characteristics and reviewing some of its common use cases and tools used to access it. We will then review some concerns and possible security issues. Finally, we’ll discuss some best practices to serve as guidance for working with EC2.
Use Cases & Related Tools
This platform of Amazon cloud has lots of uses, with lots of purchase options and API, instances and networking. It offers flexibility and choices in the choice of the processor, memory, storage options, accelerated graphics and performance.
Using AWS’s high-performance-computing capabilities, Autodesk can scale the use of generative design to run hundreds of simultaneous simulations with complex parameters. Autodesk develops software for the engineering, design, and entertainment industries.
An example of its use can be also seen in this web application use. MediaWiki installed on Apache with 140 pages of content. They received efficient and timely memory, disk, network and CPU stats.
Fore more info, check the Amazon’s official description.
Security & Performance
Security
Cloud security at AWS was a priority for the company, as their job requires high security standards due to the sensitivity some of the data the platform might be handling. An AWS customer can benefit from a data center and network architecture built to meet the requirements of the most security-sensitive organizations. Amazon EC2 works in conjunction with Amazon VPC to provide security and robust networking functionality for the user’s compute resources.
Reliability
Amazon EC2 offers also a highly reliable environment where replacement instances can be rapidly and predictably commissioned. The service runs within Amazon’s proven network infrastructure and data centers. The company has shown a history of strict and secure systems throughout its path. However, liability should never be assumed to be on the other party, and best practices should always be followed to avoid any obstacles or unexpected errors.
Performance
It provides the user with complete control of the computing resources and allows them to run on Amazon’s computing environment. Amazon EC2 reduces the time required to obtain and boot new server instances to minutes, allowing the user to quickly scale capacity, both up and down, as the computing requirements change. Amazon EC2 changes the economics of computing by allowing the user to pay only for capacity that they actually use, instead of leaving partially filled spaces of storage on the cloud. It also provides developers the tools to build failure resilient applications and isolate them from common failure scenarios.
Best Practices
Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) provides scalable computing capacity in the cloud. When using this service, it is highly recommended to monitor it for intrusion attempts or other unauthorized actions performed against your cloud infrastructure.
Trying to leverage traditional, non-cloud native solutions in order to backup AWS resources may be costly and ineffective. Traditional backup software and methods are very centralized by nature, holding disadvantages such as creating single points of failure as well as the high cost of software licenses and required dedicated hardware resources.
You can also follow this brief checklist:
Security and Network
Managing and monitoring the access to the AWS resources, APIs and storage platforms using identity federation, IAM users, and IAM roles.
Establishing an automated system for managing the process of distributing the credentials. The user should implement the least permissive rules for their security and privacy.
Regularly patch, update, and secure the operating system and applications on the instance used.
Storage
Understand the implications of the root device type for data persistence, backup, and recovery.
Use the instance store available for your instance to store temporary data.
For more info, check the official guidelines.
Closing Thoughts
In conclusion, AWS EC2 simple and practical when it comes to scale of the various and multi-layered options it paves the way for. Using traditional forms of hosting seems too old to use with the existence of this powerful cloud. This tool represents a solution for many companies that need this availability, speed, security, and flexibility in the platform they are using.
References
Amazon EC2
https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/?sc_channel=PS&sc_campaign=acquisition_US&sc_publisher=google&sc_medium=ec2_b&sc_content=ec2_e&sc_detail=amazon%20ec2&sc_category=ec2&sc_segment=175055296277&sc_matchtype=e&sc_country=US&s_kwcid=AL!4422!3!175055296277!e!!g!!amazon%20ec2&ef_id=WnPKRgAAAFPlIVHa:20180216220855:s
Choosing the Right EC2 instance and Applicable use case
How to Automate your EC2 instance backup step by step
AWS Customer Success
https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/
EC2 Use Cases
https://documentation.wazuh.com/3.x/amazon/use-cases/ec2.html