EC2 Monitoring with CloudWatch

1. Introduction

Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) allows users to run virtual servers in the cloud. Monitoring EC2 instances is crucial for maintaining performance and availability. AWS CloudWatch provides a robust set of tools to monitor, log, and set alarms on EC2 instances, helping you ensure your applications run smoothly.

2. Key Concepts

• AWS CloudWatch: A monitoring service for AWS resources and applications.
• Metrics: Data points representing the performance of your resources.
• Alarms: Notifications based on metrics thresholds.
• Logs: Collected log files from your applications and services.

3. Setup Steps

1. Log in to the AWS Management Console.
2. Navigate to the CloudWatch service.
3. Select Metrics from the left navigation pane.
4. Choose EC2 to view metrics for your instances.
5. Click on the instance you wish to monitor.

4. Metrics to Monitor

Some essential metrics for EC2 monitoring include:

• CPU Utilization
• Disk Reads/Writes
• Network In/Out
• Status Checks

5. Setting Up Alarms

To set up an alarm in CloudWatch:

1. In the CloudWatch console, select Alarms from the navigation pane.
2. Click Create Alarm.
3. Select the metric you want to monitor.
4. Define the conditions for your alarm (e.g., CPU Utilization > 80%).
5. Set the notification settings (e.g., send an email).
6. Review and create the alarm.

Example CloudWatch alarm creation using AWS CLI:

aws cloudwatch put-metric-alarm --alarm-name "HighCPUUtilization" \
--metric-name "CPUUtilization" --namespace "AWS/EC2" \
--statistic "Average" --period 300 --threshold 80 \
--comparison-operator "GreaterThanThreshold" \
--dimension "InstanceId=i-1234567890abcdef0" \
--evaluation-periods 2 --alarm-actions "arn:aws:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic" \
--unit "Percent"
            

6. Best Practices

Here are some best practices for EC2 monitoring:

• Monitor key metrics consistently.
• Set up alarms to notify you of critical issues.
• Use CloudWatch Logs to analyze application performance.
• Regularly review and optimize your monitoring strategy.

7. FAQ