EC2 — Elastic Compute Cloud
Definition: Amazon's on-demand virtual server product — the original cloud primitive. EC2 instances are the raw compute beneath most managed AWS services.
Example
In engineering planning, you'll often hear something like: "Let's pull the latest EC2 numbers before we make a call" — shorthand for elastic compute cloud.
When you'll hear it
EC2 shows up most often in engineering planning, architecture reviews, and sprint retrospectives. When someone uses it, they're usually referring to elastic compute cloud — and they expect the room to already know what that means.
FAQs
What does EC2 stand for?
EC2 stands for Elastic Compute Cloud.
What does EC2 mean in technology and engineering?
Amazon's on-demand virtual server product — the original cloud primitive. EC2 instances are the raw compute beneath most managed AWS services.
Where will I hear EC2 used at work?
EC2 comes up most often in engineering planning, architecture reviews, and sprint retrospectives. It's used as shorthand for elastic compute cloud, so people assume you already know the term.