Instance states (running, stopped, terminated) in AWS - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ service_behavior

intermediate

What is the state of an AWS EC2 instance immediately after you stop it?

You have an AWS EC2 instance running. You issue a stop command to it. What will be the instance state right after the stop command completes successfully?

A terminated

B pending

C shutting-down

D stopped

💡 Hint

Think about what 'stop' means compared to 'terminate'.

When you stop an EC2 instance, it transitions to the 'stopped' state, meaning it is powered off but still exists and can be started again.

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Which instance state means the instance is permanently deleted and cannot be restarted?

AWS EC2 instances have several states. Which state indicates the instance is permanently deleted and cannot be restarted or recovered?

A terminated

B stopped

C running

D pending

💡 Hint

Consider which state means the instance no longer exists.

The 'terminated' state means the instance is deleted and cannot be restarted. It is removed from your account.

❓ Architecture

advanced

What happens to the instance's EBS root volume when an instance is terminated?

You terminate an EC2 instance that uses an EBS root volume. What is the default behavior of the root EBS volume after termination?

A The root EBS volume is detached but retained

B The root EBS volume remains attached and running

C The root EBS volume is deleted automatically

D The root EBS volume is converted to an S3 bucket

💡 Hint

Think about default cleanup behavior for root volumes on termination.

By default, the root EBS volume is deleted when the instance is terminated unless the 'DeleteOnTermination' flag is set to false.

❓ security

advanced

Which instance state prevents you from connecting via SSH but still allows you to modify instance attributes?

An EC2 instance is in a state where you cannot connect to it via SSH, but you can still change its instance type or security groups. Which state is this?

A stopped

B running

C terminated

D shutting-down

💡 Hint

Think about when the instance is powered off but still exists.

When an instance is stopped, it is powered off so you cannot connect via SSH, but you can modify its attributes like instance type or security groups.

✅ Best Practice

expert

You want to ensure your EC2 instance data persists after stopping and starting the instance. Which storage and instance state combination guarantees this?

Select the combination of instance state and storage type that ensures your data remains intact after stopping and starting an EC2 instance.

A Instance terminated with EBS root volume

B Instance stopped with EBS root volume

C Instance stopped with instance store root volume

D Instance running with instance store root volume

💡 Hint

Instance store volumes lose data when stopped or terminated.

EBS volumes persist independently of instance state, so stopping and starting an instance with an EBS root volume keeps data intact. Instance store volumes lose data when the instance stops.