Lesson 6 / 26

EC2 Basics

Virtual servers you rent by the hour or second.

What is an EC2 instance

EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) gives you a virtual server — an instance — with CPU, memory, storage, and networking, running in minutes without buying physical hardware.

Launching one, conceptually

Launching an instance means choosing an AMI (a template OS + software image), an instance type (CPU/RAM size), storage, a network (VPC/subnet), and a key pair for SSH access.

Renting a car, not buying one

An EC2 instance is like renting a car from a lot full of models: pick the size you need today, use it, and return it (terminate it) when done — no garage, no maintenance.