Question

What are the characteristics of the t2.micro instance type?

Answer 1

The t2.micro instance type is one of the most basic and commonly used instance types in Amazon EC2's family of burstable performance instances. Here are the key characteristics of the t2.micro instance type:

1. Compute Performance:

   • The t2.micro instance type is designed for low to moderate CPU performance requirements.
   • It is equipped with a baseline level of CPU performance, measured in CPU credits per hour, which can be used during normal operation.

2. Burstable Performance:

   • The t2.micro instance type features burstable performance capabilities. It accumulates CPU credits during periods of low usage, which can be used to burst above the baseline performance level when needed.
   • When the instance's workload exceeds the baseline performance level, it consumes CPU credits to sustain higher performance. If CPU credits are exhausted, performance returns to the baseline level.

3. Memory and Storage:

   • The t2.micro instance type typically comes with 1 GiB of memory (RAM).
   • It does not include any instance store volumes (ephemeral storage), but it can be attached to Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) volumes for persistent storage.

4. Network Performance:

   • The t2.micro instance type provides moderate network performance suitable for basic networking tasks and communication with other AWS services.

5. Affordability:

   • The t2.micro instance type is one of the most cost-effective options in the EC2 instance family. It offers a low hourly rate, making it suitable for small-scale applications, development and testing, and low-traffic websites.

6. Usage Scenarios:

   • t2.micro instances are commonly used for lightweight web servers, development and testing environments, small-scale applications, and low-traffic websites.
   • They are also popular for learning AWS and experimenting with cloud computing concepts due to their affordability and simplicity.

Overall, the t2.micro instance type provides a balance of performance and cost-effectiveness, making it a popular choice for a wide range of use cases, particularly those with modest compute requirements or variable workloads that can benefit from burstable performance capabilities.