Need Guidance on Upgrading EC2 Instance for Improved Performance

Question

Hi everyone,

I'm currently hosting my small WordPress website on an Amazon EC2 instance (t2.micro, free tier) with limited resources (1 core CPU and less than 1 GB RAM). Unfortunately, this setup isn't handling the website well and frequently leads to 503 errors. I've received advice to upgrade to an instance with 2 GB RAM and 2 core CPUs.

However, I'm unsure about the process of upgrading and, more importantly, the yearly pricing for this change. Frankly, I find the pricing details on the Amazon AWS website a bit confusing.

Please note that Amazon Lightsail isn't an option for us due to budget constraints.

Any guidance on how to proceed with the upgrade and clarification on the pricing would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Answer

Hello.

Based on the specs you shared, I think it would be better to set it to "t3.small".  
T3 instance type provides better performance than T2.  
There is also an instance type called T4g, but since the CPU architecture is different, there are concerns that applications that were previously running may no longer work, so I think it is best to use T3 first.  
Please note that if you use anything other than t2.micro, you will be excluded from the free tier. (t3.micro may be free in regions where t2.micro is not available)  
https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/instance-types/?nc1=h_ls

You can change the instance type by following the steps in the document below.  
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ec2-instance-resize.html#change-instance-type-of-ebs-backed-instance

Instance type charges are calculated as follows:  
The prices below are calculated for the Ohio region.  
This is a rough estimate, so if you want to calculate properly including EBS fees, etc., please use the "[Pricing Calculator](https://calculator.aws/#/)".  
https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/on-demand/?nc1=h_ls
```
$0.0208 * 24 * 30 * 12 = 179.712
```

Need Guidance on Upgrading EC2 Instance for Improved Performance

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