1. What are the different types of EC2 instances?

💡 How to Answer:
AWS offers different EC2 instance types based on use cases:

 General Purpose (T3, M5) – Balanced CPU & memory, good for web servers.

 Compute Optimized (C5, C6g) – For heavy processing tasks like gaming and analytics.

 Memory Optimized (R5, X1e) – Used for databases or in-memory caching.

 Storage Optimized (I3, D2) – Best for workloads needing fast disk access like big data.

 Accelerated Computing (P4, G4) – For GPU-heavy tasks like AI/ML training.

🚀 Example: If I need a web app, I go for T3; if it’s a database server, I choose R5.

2. What is the difference between a Security Group and a Network ACL?

💡 How to Answer:
Both control traffic in a VPC, but their scope is different:

 Security Groups – Work at instance level and are stateful (if inbound traffic is allowed, outbound is
automatically allowed).

 Network ACLs (NACLs) – Work at subnet level and are stateless (need rules for both inbound &
outbound).

🚀 Example: If I need to block a specific IP for the whole subnet, I use NACLs. If I just want to allow SSH (port
22) on one instance, I configure its Security Group.

3. How does S3 ensure high durability and availability?

💡 How to Answer:
Amazon S3 has 99.999999999% (11 nines) durability, meaning data is almost never lost. It stores multiple
copies of files across multiple Availability Zones (AZs).

🚀 Example: If I upload a file to S3, AWS automatically stores copies in different locations. Even if one AZ fails,
my data is safe.

4. What are the types of AWS Load Balancers?

💡 How to Answer:
AWS provides three types:

 Application Load Balancer (ALB) – Best for web applications (Layer 7).

 Network Load Balancer (NLB) – Handles millions of requests per second (Layer 4).

 Classic Load Balancer (CLB) – Oldest version, supports both Layers 4 & 7.

🚀 Example: If I need to route traffic based on URLs (e.g., /login vs /home), I use ALB. If I need high-speed TCP
traffic handling, NLB is the best.

5. How do you make an EC2 instance highly available?

 Deploy in multiple AZs – If one zone fails, another takes over.

 Use Auto Scaling Groups (ASG) – Adds/removes instances as needed.

 Attach Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) – Distributes traffic to healthy instances.

 Use Elastic IP – Keeps a fixed IP address.

 Store data separately (EFS, RDS Multi-AZ) – Ensures data isn't lost if the instance goes down.

🚀 Example: For a web app, I configure ASG + ELB + Multi-AZ RDS so that traffic never stops.

6. What’s the difference between RDS and DynamoDB?

💡 How to Answer:

 RDS (Relational Database Service) – SQL-based (MySQL, PostgreSQL), used for structured data.

 DynamoDB – NoSQL, used for fast key-value lookups.

🚀 Example: If I need a structured banking system, I go with RDS. If I need a fast user session store,
DynamoDB is better.

7. What are the different S3 storage classes?

💡 How to Answer:

 S3 Standard – Default, for frequently accessed data.

 Intelligent-Tiering – Moves data to lower-cost tiers if not accessed.

 Standard-IA – For infrequent access.

 One Zone-IA – Cheaper but stored in one AZ.

 Glacier & Glacier Deep Archive – For long-term backups (retrieval takes time).

🚀 Example: If I store daily logs, I use S3 Standard. For old backups, Glacier Deep Archive saves cost.

8. What is AWS Auto Scaling?

💡 How to Answer:
Auto Scaling adjusts EC2 instances automatically based on demand. It has:

 Dynamic Scaling – Adds/removes instances based on traffic.

 Scheduled Scaling – Increases/decreases at set times.

🚀 Example: If I run an e-commerce site, I use Auto Scaling to add servers during sales and remove them
afterward.

9. How do you monitor AWS resources?

💡 How to Answer:
  CloudWatch – Monitors performance (CPU, memory, etc.).

 CloudTrail – Tracks user actions and API calls.

 AWS Config – Checks compliance.

 X-Ray – Traces application requests.

🚀 Example: If my EC2 CPU is high, CloudWatch sends an alert, and I scale up instances automatically.

10. What is IAM, and how does it secure AWS?

💡 How to Answer:
IAM (Identity and Access Management) controls who can access AWS resources using:

 Users & Groups – Assign permissions.

 Roles – Allow services to interact securely.

 MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) – Adds extra security.

🚀 Example: If a developer needs S3 access, I create an IAM role with least privilege so they can only
perform required actions.

11. What is an Elastic IP in AWS?

💡 How to Answer:
An Elastic IP (EIP) is a static, public IPv4 address that you can assign to an EC2 instance.

🚀 Example: If my web server crashes, I launch a new instance and attach the same Elastic IP so users don’t
see a change.

12. How does AWS CloudFormation help in infrastructure management?

💡 How to Answer:
CloudFormation is an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) service that automates AWS resource provisioning using
JSON/YAML templates.

🚀 Example: Instead of manually creating an EC2 instance, I use CloudFormation to deploy it with all settings
pre-configured.

13. What is Amazon CloudFront and how does it work?

💡 How to Answer:
CloudFront is a Content Delivery Network (CDN) that speeds up content delivery using global edge locations.

🚀 Example: If my website has visitors worldwide, CloudFront caches content close to users, reducing load
time.

14. How can you automate backups in AWS?

💡 How to Answer:

 AWS Backup – Centralized backup for multiple AWS services.

 RDS Automated Backups – Enables point-in-time recovery for databases.

🚀 Example: For EC2, I schedule daily EBS snapshots.

15. What is a VPC, and why is it used?

💡 How to Answer:
A VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) is a private network within AWS where you can launch EC2 instances and other
resources securely. It provides:

 Subnets – To separate resources (e.g., public/private).

 Route Tables – Controls traffic flow.

 Internet Gateway – Allows public internet access.

 NAT Gateway – Allows private instances to access the internet securely.

🚀 Example: If I host a web app, I put the web server in a public subnet and the database in a private subnet
for security.

16. What is AWS Lambda, and when should you use it?

💡 How to Answer:
AWS Lambda is a serverless computing service that runs code without managing servers. It executes functions
on demand in response to events.

🚀 Example: If I want to resize images when they are uploaded to S3, I create a Lambda function that triggers
automatically.

17. How can you optimize an RDS database in AWS?

💡 How to Answer:
To optimize Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service):

 Enable Read Replicas – For high traffic read operations.

 Use Multi-AZ Deployment – Ensures high availability.

 Enable Performance Insights – Analyzes slow queries.

 Choose the Right Instance Type – Based on workload.

🚀 Example: If my RDS MySQL server is slow, I enable Read Replicas to distribute read traffic.

18. What is the difference between EBS and EFS?

💡 How to Answer:

 EBS (Elastic Block Store) – Block storage attached to a single EC2 instance. Best for databases and
system drives.

 EFS (Elastic File System) – Shared storage that can be accessed by multiple EC2 instances. Good
for shared data.
🚀 Example: If I need persistent storage for one EC2 instance, I use EBS. If I need a shared drive across
multiple instances, I choose EFS.

19. How can you monitor an AWS environment effectively?

💡 How to Answer:

 CloudWatch – Monitors performance (CPU, memory, disk, network).

 CloudTrail – Tracks API calls and user activities.

 AWS Config – Checks compliance with best practices.

 X-Ray – Helps trace application requests for debugging.

🚀 Example: If my EC2 instance CPU usage is high, I set up a CloudWatch alarm to auto-scale it.

20. How can you secure AWS resources using IAM?

💡 How to Answer:
IAM (Identity and Access Management) secures AWS by managing user permissions.

 IAM Users & Groups – Assign permissions to individuals or teams.

 IAM Roles – Securely allow AWS services to interact.

 IAM Policies – Define rules for what users can or cannot do.

 MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) – Adds extra security.

🚀 Example: If I need to give S3 access to an application, I create an IAM role with least privilege access.