EC2 AMIsΒΆ
As we previously saw, AWS comes with base images such as: - [[Ubuntu]] - [[Fedora]] - [[RedHat]] - [[Windows]] - etc
These images can be customised at runtime using EC2 User Data
But, you can create your own image, which can be done with an AMI.
Using custom built AMI can provide with following advantages: - Pre-installed packages needed - Faster boot time (no need for EC2 User Data at boot time) - Machine comes configured with monitoring / enterprise software - Security concerns - control over the machines in the network - Control of maintenance and updates of AMIs over time - [[Active Directory Integration]] out of the box - Installing your app ahead of time (for faster deploys when auto-scaling) - Using someone else's EC2 AMIs that is optimised for running an app, DB, etc..
AMI are built for a specific AWS region!
Using public AMIs - You can leverage AMIs from other people - You can also pay for other people's AMI by the hour - These people have optimised the software - The machine is easy to run and configure - You basically rent "expertise"'from the AMI creator - AMI can be found and published on the Amazon Marketplace
Warning - Do not use an AMI you don't trust - Some AMIs might come with malware or may not be secure for your enterprise