Instance types and families in AWS - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to specify the instance type for an EC2 instance.

AWS

resource "aws_instance" "example" {
  ami           = "ami-12345678"
  instance_type = "[1]"
}

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Aami-12345678

Bt2.micro

Cus-east-1

Dvpc-1234abcd

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using the AMI ID instead of the instance type.

Using a region or VPC ID instead of the instance type.

The instance_type field defines the EC2 instance size and family, such as t2.micro.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to select a compute-optimized instance family.

AWS

resource "aws_instance" "compute_optimized" {
  ami           = "ami-87654321"
  instance_type = "[1]"
}

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Ar5.xlarge

Bm5.large

Ct3.micro

Dc5.large

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Choosing a general purpose or memory-optimized instance instead of compute-optimized.

Confusing instance families by their letter prefixes.

The c5.large instance type belongs to the compute-optimized family, designed for CPU-intensive tasks.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the instance type to use a valid memory-optimized instance.

AWS

resource "aws_instance" "memory_optimized" {
  ami           = "ami-11223344"
  instance_type = "[1]"
}

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

At3.medium

Bc5.large

Cr5.large

Dm5.xlarge

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using compute-optimized or general purpose instance types instead of memory-optimized.

Choosing an invalid instance type string.

The r5.large instance type is part of the memory-optimized family, suitable for memory-intensive applications.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to define a burstable instance with the smallest size.

AWS

resource "aws_instance" "burstable" {
  ami           = "ami-55667788"
  instance_type = "[1].[2]"
}

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

At3

Bmicro

Csmall

Dm5

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'm5' which is general purpose instead of burstable.

Choosing 'small' size instead of 'micro' for smallest instance.

The smallest burstable instance type is t3.micro, combining the family 't3' and size 'micro'.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to create a general purpose instance with medium size and the latest generation.

AWS

resource "aws_instance" "general_purpose" {
  ami           = "ami-99887766"
  instance_type = "[1][2].[3]"
}

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Am

B5

Cmedium

Dlarge

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'large' size instead of 'medium'.

Using wrong family letter or generation number.

The latest generation general purpose instance is m5.medium, combining family 'm', generation '5', and size 'medium'.

Practice

1. Which AWS instance family is best suited for general purpose workloads like web servers and small databases?

easy

A. C family (e.g., c5, c6g)

B. P family (e.g., p3, p4)

C. R family (e.g., r5, r6g)

D. T family (e.g., t3, t4g)

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand instance family purposes

   The T family is designed for general purpose workloads with balanced CPU and memory.

2. Step 2: Match workload type to instance family

   Web servers and small databases typically need balanced resources, fitting T family well.

3. Final Answer:

   T family (e.g., t3, t4g) -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   General purpose = T family [OK]

Hint: General purpose = T family instances [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing compute-optimized C family for general purpose
• Choosing memory-optimized R family for small databases
• Selecting GPU P family for simple web servers

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to specify a compute-optimized instance type in AWS?

easy

A. t3.large

B. c5.large

C. r5.large

D. m5.large

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify compute-optimized prefix

   Compute-optimized instances start with 'c' (e.g., c5, c6g).

2. Step 2: Check instance type format

   Correct format is family + size, like 'c5.large'.

3. Final Answer:

   c5.large -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Compute-optimized = c5.large [OK]

Hint: Compute-optimized instances start with 'c' [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Choosing m5.large which is general purpose
• Selecting r5.large which is memory optimized
• Using t3.large which is burstable general purpose

3. Given the following instance types, which one provides the highest memory capacity per vCPU?

A) m5.large
B) c5.large
C) r5.large
D) t3.large

medium

A. r5.large

B. c5.large

C. m5.large

D. t3.large

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand instance family memory focus

   R family is memory optimized, offering more memory per vCPU than others.

2. Step 2: Compare memory per vCPU for given types

   r5.large has 16 GiB RAM and 2 vCPUs (8 GiB/vCPU), higher than m5.large (8 GiB/2 vCPU = 4 GiB/vCPU), c5.large (4 GiB/2 vCPU = 2 GiB/vCPU), t3.large (8 GiB/2 vCPU = 4 GiB/vCPU).

3. Final Answer:

   r5.large -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Memory optimized = r5.large [OK]

Hint: Memory optimized = R family (r5, r6g) [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming m5.large has more memory per vCPU
• Confusing compute-optimized c5.large as memory heavy
• Thinking burstable t3.large has highest memory per vCPU

4. You launched an instance with type c5.large but your application needs more memory. Which instance type should you choose to fix this issue without changing the CPU count?

medium

A. r5.large

B. c5.xlarge

C. t3.large

D. m5.large

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify current instance specs

   c5.large has 2 vCPUs and 4 GiB memory.

2. Step 2: Find instance with same vCPU but more memory

   r5.large has 2 vCPUs and 16 GiB memory, increasing memory without changing CPU count.

3. Final Answer:

   r5.large -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   More memory, same CPU = r5.large [OK]

Hint: Keep vCPU same, pick memory-optimized with same size [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Choosing c5.xlarge which doubles CPU and memory
• Picking t3.large which is burstable, not memory optimized
• Selecting m5.large which has less memory (8 GiB) than r5.large

5. You need to run a machine learning training job that requires high GPU performance and large memory. Which instance family and size combination is the best fit?

hard

A. r5.12xlarge

B. c5.4xlarge

C. p4d.24xlarge

D. t3.2xlarge

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify instance families for GPU workloads

   P family instances are designed for GPU-intensive tasks like machine learning.

2. Step 2: Choose size with high GPU and memory

   p4d.24xlarge offers multiple GPUs and large memory, ideal for training jobs.

3. Final Answer:

   p4d.24xlarge -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   GPU + large memory = p4d.24xlarge [OK]

Hint: GPU needs = P family, largest size for training [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Picking c5.4xlarge which lacks GPUs
• Choosing r5.12xlarge which is memory optimized but no GPU
• Selecting t3.2xlarge which is burstable general purpose