What it is
EC2 is a virtual machine you rent by the hour (or second). You pick a size, an image, a network, and a key. Then it runs until you stop it, or until the invoice reminds you it exists.
It is the "computer in the cloud" people mean when they say server. Databases, web apps, bastion hosts, that proof of concept from January that became October's surprise line item.
Azure Virtual Machines are the same idea with different size names. The 32-core dropdown is equally tempting on both sides.
Why it matters in the meeting
Starting an instance is a five-minute win. Stopping one requires ownership. Untagged "dev" boxes that run for nine months are how JJ meets an $847 line item with no sprint attached.
Bart will ask who owns it, what size it is, and whether it needs to be on at night. "We might need it" is not a sizing method.
Real world
Right-sizing, reserved capacity, and schedules exist because humans are optimistic about turning things off. Auto Scaling helps when demand is real. It does not help when the only demand is forgetting.
A single-zone instance with no backup story is a very polite single point of failure. Multi-AZ and snapshots are not optional extras for production.
EC2 is a computer you rent. The cloud will keep charging while you "figure out ownership." Name it, tag it, or terminate it.
What to ask
- Which EC2 instances have no owner tag and no recent login?
- What is CPU doing on the largest boxes over the last 30 days?
- Do non-production instances shut down at night, or only in theory?
- If we terminated every untagged instance tomorrow, what would break?
You just knew a little more Jack than you did five minutes ago.
All concepts