What is Amazon EC2 primarily used for?

Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) is primarily used for building and hosting a wide range of software systems, making it a versatile and powerful service within the AWS ecosystem. It provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud, which means that developers and businesses can deploy applications and services quickly and efficiently without the need for physical hardware.

The versatility of EC2 allows users to create and configure virtual servers according to their specific demands, which is crucial when building complex applications that require scalability. Additionally, users can choose from various instance types optimized for different tasks, from general-purpose applications to memory-intensive databases.

While EC2 can also be used for tasks like web hosting, storing data, and running batch computations, its primary strength lies in its ability to provide a platform for software systems that require the deployment and management of applications in a cloud environment. This includes everything from host applications, back-end services, and hosted websites to more extensive enterprise solutions. The focus on building and hosting platforms highlights EC2’s role in facilitating the development of robust, scalable applications in the cloud.