getting started with aws ec2. from zero to hero
TRANSCRIPT
Getting Started with AWS EC2. From Zero to Hero
13 April 2016George Yanev
Telerik, a Progress CompanyDevOps Engineer
About Me
● Started as System Administrator with passion for Open Source. First distro Slackware.
● Few years ago get interested in coding and as Open Source enthusiast and System Administrator picked Python.
● Moved to DevOps as it match my believe that if you love what you do, you will find ways to do it better.
What to expect
● Introduction to EC2.● Go beyond the introduction in some areas like Xen, Burstable instances,
Instance type, Enhanced networking● Dive in the Price Options
HistoryStarted in 25 August 2006 in BETA with m1.small instance
Interesting facts:
- m1.small instance from 2006 was 2.27 times more expensive than today- No persistent storage until 20 August 2008 when EBS was introduced- Only Linux- No AWS Management Console- No Auto Scaling
Let’s talk a little bit about the Hardware
● Data centers● Racks● Servers● Networking● Data storage
Hardware● Rack ● Switch
Virtualization● Hypervisor type is XEN ● Curious facts
○ Operating System is probably RedHat based
○ Different XEN version in the same region
EC2 Hypervisor guests types
● HVM (Hardware Virtual Machine a.k.a Hardware-assisted virtualization)● PV (Paravirtualization)
HVM
● Guest system doesn’t know it has been virtualized● By default slower than PV in I/O scenarios (not true anymore)● Depends on the Hardware (Intel - VT, AMD - AMD-V)● Secure Hardware isolation
HVM Speed
HVM is currently at least on par as performance goes with PV thanks to:
● New hardware extensions: SR-IOV● Xen improvements● Kernel host improvements - vector callbacks, MSI remapping, interrupt
remapping● PV drivers - storage drivers, network drivers
EC2 Hypervisor guests pros
● HVM (Hardware Virtual Machine a.k.a Hardware-assisted virtualization)○ Bursty CPU Loads.○ High Memory Instances.○ Enhanced Networking Instances.
● PV (Paravirtualization)○ None
If you like benchmarks: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amazon_ec2_pvhvm&num=1
EC2 Instance type
Instance family● T, M - General purpose● C - Compute optimized ● R - Memory optimized● I, D - Storage optimized● G - GPU instances
Instance generation
● Each new generation add feature, boost performance. If you are unsure which generation to use, choose the latest.
Instance size
● Starting from nano reaching out to 8xlarge (and the monster X1 SAP HANA)● http://www.ec2instances.info/
Instance types
● Next dozen of slides will try to explain○ The different Instance types○ Which role suits each Instance type○ Instance types key facts
vCPU
● What exactly AWS means by vCPU?
Each vCPU is a hyperthread of an Intel Xeon core. In general, one vCPU more-or-less correlates to half a physical core.
T2 (Burstable Performance Instances)
● Features○ High Frequency Intel Xeon Processors with Turbo up to 3.3GHz○ Burstable CPU, governed by CPU Credits, and consistent baseline performance○ Lowest-cost general purpose instance type, and Free Tier eligible (t2.micro only)○ Balance of compute, memory, and network resources
Burstable Performance Instances
● Burstable Performance Instances provide a baseline level of CPU performance with the ability to burst above the baseline.
Burstable Performance Instances #2● Understand how credit works
M4 (General Purpose Instances)
● Features○ 2.4 GHz Intel Xeon® E5-2676 v3 (Haswell) processors.○ EBS-optimized by default at no additional cost.○ Support for Enhanced Networking.○ Balance of compute, memory, and network resources.
● No local storage, only EBS.● Probably the most versatile Instances.● Fixed Performance Instances as opposed to the T2 instances.
EBS
● General Purpose SSD volumes. ● Provisioned IOPS SSD volumes.● EBS Magnetic volumes.● Snapshot capabilities.● Bound to a specific Availability Zone.● Not bound to the current instance.
General Purpose SSD volume
● Speed and credit accumulation depends on the volume size● Initial I/O credit balance is 5 400 000. This is enough to sustain 30minutes of
maximum burst.
EBS Optimized● Free and enabled by default for M4, C4 and D2 Instances.● Paying a fee if your instance is not M4, C4 or D2: http://aws.amazon.
com/ec2/pricing/#EBS-Optimized_Instances● Dedicated throughput between the EC2 Instance and Amazon EBS.
Throughput Max 16K IOPS Max bandwidth (MB/s)
450 Mbps 3,600 56.25
M4.large EBS max performance
Enhanced Networking
● What is Enhanced Networking?● How it’s working?
Enhanced Networking #2
● Do you need it?
In few words: probably not but depends on your usage.
Benchmarks: http://blogs.scalablelogic.com/2013/12/enhanced-networking-in-aws-cloud.html
Enhanced Networking #3
● Requirements○ Instances of the following type: C4, C3, R3, I2, M4, and D2○ HVM AMI○ Launch in VPC ○ Linux kernel module ixgbevf, minimum recommended version 2.14.2
● How-to enable it: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/enhanced-networking.html#test-enhanced-networking
M3 (General Purpose Instances)
● Compare to the M4
○ No EBS Optimized by default.
○ Has a SSD-based instance storage for fast I/O performance.
○ Lack enhanced networking.
○ More expensive than M4
C4 (Compute Optimized Instances)
● Features
○ High frequency Intel Xeon E5-2666 v3 (Haswell) processors optimized specifically for EC2
○ EBS-optimized
○ Ability to control processor C-state and P-state configuration on the c4.8xlarge instance type
○ Support for Enhanced Networking and Clustering
C3 (Compute Optimized Instances)
● Compare to the C4
○ No EBS Optimized by default.
○ Has a SSD-based instance storage for fast I/O performance.
○ Lack enhanced networking.
○ More expensive than M4
R3 (Memory Optimized Instances)
● Features○ High Frequency Intel Xeon E5-2670 v2 (Ivy Bridge) Processors
○ Lowest price point per GiB of RAM
○ SSD Storage
○ Support for Enhanced Networking
Hint: EBS Optimized is not enabled by default
Good for NoSQL databases like MongoDB, Distributed memory cache.
I2 (High I/O Optimized Instances)
● Features○ High Frequency Intel Xeon E5-2670 v2 (Ivy Bridge) Processors
○ SSD Storage
○ Support for TRIM
○ Support for Enhanced Networking
○ High Random I/O performance
Purchasing Options
● First thing first. This site is a must: http://www.ec2instances.info/ while calculating the price.
● Three ways to pay for EC2 Instances○ On-Demand○ Reserved○ Spot Instances
On-Demand Instances
● Key features:○ Pay by the hour ○ Without any up-front payment or long-term commitment○ Increase/Decrease compute capacity at will
Reserved Instances
● Key features:○ Significant discount (up to 75%) compared to On-Demand instances.○ Always available for the Operating System and Availability zone in which you purchased it.○ If you don’t use it you lose money as you’ve already prepaid for it.
○ Somewhat hard to change or in some instances impossible to change. As example you can't move it in a different region.
○ You can sell it
Spot Instances
● Key features:○ Usually lower hourly rates than On-Demand instances.○ No upfront commitment (same as On-Demand instances).○ You bid for the Spot Instances (they are AWS spare resource).○ They will be shutdown if the current price is above the maximum you have specified.
Recap: Getting most of this presentation
● Use HVM AMI● Use in the beginning On-Demand instances. They are flexible and you are paying
only for each started hour.● Choose instance By-Resource Approach● Start with smaller instances and change with bigger if needed. Change instance
type is cheap (stop/change/start) as long as you are using EBS and and the instance will not be moved to different Availability Zone.
● http://www.ec2instances.info/
Q&A
