Amazon EC2
Secure and resizable compute capacity in the cloud.
Overview
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) is a web service that provides secure, resizable compute capacity in the cloud. It is designed to make web-scale cloud computing easier for developers. Amazon EC2’s simple web service interface allows you to obtain and configure capacity with minimal friction. It provides you with complete control of your computing resources and lets you run on Amazon’s proven computing environment.
✨ Key Features
- Variety of instance types (General Purpose, Compute Optimized, Memory Optimized, etc.)
- Elasticity and rapid scalability (vertical and horizontal)
- High availability with a 99.99% SLA commitment
- Integration with AWS services like VPC, S3, and RDS
- AWS Nitro System for enhanced security and performance
- Flexible pricing models (On-Demand, Spot Instances, Savings Plans)
🎯 Key Differentiators
- Broadest and deepest compute platform with over 1000 instance types
- First major cloud provider to support Intel, AMD, and Arm processors
- Only cloud with on-demand EC2 Mac instances
Unique Value: Offers the most extensive and flexible virtual server platform, enabling businesses to scale applications securely and cost-effectively.
🎯 Use Cases (5)
✅ Best For
- Hosting scalable web applications
- Running large-scale data processing jobs
- Deploying containerized applications with ECS or EKS
💡 Check With Vendor
Verify these considerations match your specific requirements:
- Workloads requiring sustained, predictable performance at the lowest cost (might be better with Reserved Instances)
- Very small, simple applications (AWS Lightsail might be a better fit)
🏆 Alternatives
Provides a wider variety of instance types, global regions, and deeper integration with other AWS services compared to competitors.
💻 Platforms
🔌 Integrations
🛟 Support Options
- ✓ Email Support
- ✓ Live Chat
- ✓ Phone Support
- ✓ Dedicated Support (Business, Enterprise tier)
🔒 Compliance & Security
💰 Pricing
Free tier: 750 hours of t2.micro or t3.micro instance each month for one year.
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