Day 2 dives into the backbone of AWS compute and storage: EC2, EBS, S3, and related services. Understanding how to choose the right instance type and storage class is essential for designing scalable, cost-efficient solutions.
🎯 Study Objectives
- Learn EC2 instance families and pricing models
- Understand EBS volumes and S3 storage classes
- Explore compute optimization strategies
- Review Elastic File System (EFS) and instance metadata
🧰 EC2 Deep Dive
✅ Instance Types
| Family | Use Case | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| t3/t4g | General purpose | Burstable CPU, good for dev/test |
| m5/m6g | Balanced | Suitable for most workloads |
| c6g | Compute optimized | High-performance computing |
| r6g | Memory optimized | In-memory databases, caching |
| i3 | Storage optimized | High IOPS, NVMe SSDs |
✅ Pricing Models
- On-Demand: Pay per hour/second, no commitment
- Reserved Instances: 1–3 year commitment, cost savings
- Spot Instances: Up to 90% cheaper, interruptible
- Savings Plans: Flexible pricing across instance families
📦 Storage Services
✅ Amazon EBS
- Block storage for EC2
- Types: gp3 (general purpose), io2 (high IOPS), sc1/st1 (cold/hard disk)
- Supports snapshots and encryption
✅ Amazon S3
- Object storage with 99.999999999% durability
- Storage classes:
- Standard: Frequent access
- IA (Infrequent Access): Lower cost, slower retrieval
- Glacier / Glacier Deep Archive: Archival, long-term storage
✅ Amazon EFS
- Scalable, elastic file system for Linux workloads
- Supports NFS protocol, ideal for shared access
🧠 Exam Tips
- Know when to use Spot vs Reserved vs On-Demand
- Understand S3 lifecycle policies and storage class transitions
- Be familiar with EBS volume types and performance characteristics
- Expect questions on instance metadata and user data scripts
🧪 Hands-On Labs
- Launch EC2 instances with different types and pricing models
- Attach and resize EBS volumes
- Create S3 buckets with lifecycle rules
- Mount EFS to multiple EC2 instances
📎 Resources
✅ Summary
Day 2 builds your foundation in compute and storage services. Choosing the right instance type and storage class is key to balancing performance, cost, and scalability. Both in the exam and in production environments.