Amazon ECS with EC2 Launch Type.

 

Amazon ECS with EC2 Launch Type.  This is where twtech runs its Docker containers on Amazon EC2 instances that twtech manages itself.

 The concept Amazon: ECS - EC2 Launch Type

Amazon ECS (Elastic Container Service) using the EC2 launch type. This means twtech can provision and manage a cluster of EC2 instances that act as container hosts.

ECS schedules and runs twtech containers on these EC2 instances.

 Architecture Overview

# sql

 

              +---------------------------+

            | Amazon ECS Cluster |

            |   +--------------------+      |

            |   EC2 Instance (x)      |

            |   - ECS Agent             |

            |   - Docker Engine      | 

            |   - Running Tasks      |  

            |  +--------------------+       |

            |   ... more nodes         |

              +---------------------------+

 

                          ▲

                           |

                          ▼

 

           +----------------------------+

        |   ECS Scheduler            |

     |   - Places tasks on EC2s   |

          +----------------------------+

 

                          ▲

                           |

                          ▼

 

        +----------------------------+

      | Task Definitions         |

    | - Container Specs         |

    | - CPU/Memory limits     |

     | - Port mappings           |

       +----------------------------+

AWS Useful link for Documentaion. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonECS/latest/developerguide/launch-type-ec2.html

 Key Components

Component	Description
Cluster.	Group of EC2 instances that ECS manages.
Task Definition.	Blueprint for running containers (image, CPU, memory, ports).
Task.	Running instance of a Task Definition.
Service.	Ensures a specified number of tasks are always running.
ECS Agent.	Installed on EC2 instances, communicates with ECS.
EC2 Instances.	Container hosts (must use ECS-optimized AMI or compatible OS).

✅ Pros(benefits) of EC2 Launch Type

• Full control over EC2 instances (OS, networking, IAM, monitoring).
• Can run daemon services or tools like Prometheus, Fluentd, custom agents.
• More cost control with EC2 Reserved or Spot Instances.
• Easier integration with EBS volumes or custom networking.

❌ Cons(limitations)

• twtech must manage EC2 lifecycle (patching, autoscaling, etc.).
• Less "serverless" than Fargate – more overhead.
• Need to manage scaling of both instances and tasks.

 Steps to Use ECS with EC2 Launch Type

1. Create ECS Cluster
• With EC2 capacity (twtech can use ECS optimized AMIs)
• Set IAM roles, networking (VPC, Subnets, Security Groups)
2. Register Task Definition
• Define container image, ports, CPU/memory, volumes, etc.
3. Launch Service or Task
• Select EC2 launch type
• Specify how many tasks to run
4. Auto Scaling (Optional)
• Use EC2 Auto Scaling groups
• Also possible to scale ECS tasks independently

 Sample ECS EC2 Task Definition (JSON)

# json

{

  "family": "twtech-ec2-app",

  "containerDefinitions": [

    {

      "name": "twtechwebapp",

      "image": "12345xxxxx.dkr.ecr.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/twtech-web-app:latest",

      "memory": 512,

      "cpu": 256,

      "portMappings": [

        {

          "containerPort": 80,

          "hostPort": 80

        }

      ],

      "essential": true

    }

  ]

}

 When twtech uses ECS with EC2 Launch Type

Use Case	Why ECS-EC2 is Suitable
Custom monitoring/logging agents.	Full access to the OS
Use of specialized EC2 types (e.g. GPU).	Supports all EC2 types
Long-running apps needing persistence.	Can mount EBS volumes
Existing EC2 infra in place.	Easy integration