Originally posted on LinkedIn on: September 7, 2022

When we hear or read about all these acronyms like EC2, S3, GCP, SQL, and many more, we as non-tech people tend to block those instances and then continue with our lives. Costly mistake as we are missing out on a good chunk of the conversation. Sometimes it only takes a few searches and phrase decomposition for that in-the-fly moments so we can do more research later.

EC2 stands for Elastic Compute Cloud. Two consecutive “Cs” = C2

We all know what the Elastic word means in plain ______ (fill in your preferred language), which is the same here; it grows and shrinks as we go/need.

The Compute portion comes from the power of processing something or some things on a computer (be it a server, laptop, desktop, etc.), and the Cloud we all also know it means somewhere in the ethereal and abstract technological world we wish it was an actual cloud, but nope, it is just more servers located in different regions where people can store/access their files, and someone else runs it for you.

Granted, way more complex than that, but it will be for another post.

So, after that oversimplification, let’s explore EC2.

Imagine the early stages of some startups (not all, of course): a super cool developer/businessperson comes up with an idea to build the next generation app, they probably have their regular job and work very hard nights and weekends, with minimal capital investment, and working on their local computers or personal servers.

Anyone with a few years of listening to engineers and tech people generally has heard that they battle with the fact that development might work locally (say on their PC), but everything breaks when deployed to another instance (say a server).

Well, let’s imagine our awesome developer Marta needs to test her app outside her local environment but doesn’t have the resources to buy a server, install it, and maintain it. Where could she go? Yep, EC2.

EC2 will offer her the chance not only to test her app but to choose the hardware she wants to use and how much to pay. I think you have already figured out where I am heading, and according to the AWS site, it will offer her “…latest processor, storage, networking, operating system, and purchase model to help you best match your workload’s needs.“

Some of the features EC2 offers and that Marta could choose are the following:

Multiple locations: No, it doesn’t mean they ship your server selection to a remote place with no support. It means you can run the same instance in multiple regions to avoid downtime. In this case, Marta can choose to run her server on a nearby location to her house or in multiple zones. Amazon calls them Availability Zones.

Monitoring and security services: Marta will have a service running 24/7; uptime has to be a certain percentage. So, if at 3 AM Marta’s server breaks for some reason, she is up not just with her knowledge but with Amazon’s help, and they will do all necessary shifts and lift for her to get back online.

Processing: The EC2 service aggregates compute and storage resources across Amazon’s globally distributed infrastructure. They handle hardware provisioning, workload balancing, and scaling automatically while you get access to ongoing infrastructure management with (most importantly) low-cost managed services. They offer very specific options for every need, so Marta might have a server that will handle vast amounts of storage or maybe is a gaming app, and she needs lots of memory. You can read more about them here (https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/instance-types/).

Cost and capacity Optimization: But of course! The Amazon EC2 service will automatically and continually monitor Marta’s availability cloud resources and responds by powering on or off instances as necessary to maintain her selected performance metrics (e.g., availability targets) while minimizing costs. The service will only cost what Marta uses, so she pays only for the capacity you have provisioned.

Storage: The Amazon website offers users a choice of high-performance Amazon S3 storage services that can easily handle petabytes of data. So, Marta can choose the performance she needs, and Amazon will provide her with an S3 storage service that they develop (and other companies) and is supported by the best in cloud technology.

**S3 will be the topic of another post, so we don’t overload this one with information.**

Networking: The Amazon website offers users high-performance network configuration options for their EC2 instances based on their individual needs. So, if Marta needs to connect her instances to the Internet and compete with Netflix as she is creating the best next thing in streaming, she can choose from options that AWS offers as she will need to have fast connectivity.

Operating System and Software: The Amazon website offers users a choice of several operating systems and software that can be installed easily onto your EC2 Compute Service (EC2) instances. So, Marta can choose the operating system she needs, and the Amazon site will give her links to download it. She can go with Linux, Mac, Windows, and many more.

So, there you have it. I hope that what seems like a daunting item becomes pretty straightforward for you now. Under the hood, there are many more exciting and complex items, but as we know, this is not the place as we try to get a business view of tech.

EC2 information here.

Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely my own and are intended for educational and informational purposes only. They do not constitute legal, financial, or business advice. Readers are encouraged to seek independent professional advice before applying any ideas or suggestions discussed herein. Any reliance you place on the information provided is strictly at your own risk.