Choose a path

Shared setup is done. From here the walkthrough splits. Each path creates its own cluster and gateway in the same VPC. Run one path or both — they do not share a gateway.

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Shared setupVPC · IAM roles

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EC2 path

ecs-gw-lab-ec2 cluster + gateway

Fargate path

ecs-gw-lab-fargate cluster + gateway

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Shared teardownwhen both are done

EC2 pathLaunch an ECS-optimized instance, create a cluster and gateway, deploy two services, verify, tear down.Start EC2 →Fargate pathCreate a Fargate cluster and gateway, deploy two services, verify, tear down. No instances to manage.Start Fargate →

Which should I pick?

For the gateway it makes no difference — same connector, same shared ALB, same managed hostnames. The only question is who runs the host.

Fargate default

• No servers to manage — AWS runs the host
• Bursty or variable load; scales to zero between tasks
• Least operational overhead
• Standard web services and APIs

Choose EC2 when

• Steady, high utilization — often cheaper (Savings Plans, Spot, Graviton)
• You need GPUs or specific instance types Fargate doesn’t offer
• Host-level control — privileged containers, kernel params, custom runtimes
• Bin-packing many small tasks onto fewer hosts, or an existing fleet

Tip

Not sure? Pick Fargate. It is the lower-overhead default; move to EC2 only when you hit one of the reasons on the right.

Tip

In production, Fargate and EC2 services can share one cluster and one gateway. This lab keeps paths separate so you can run either alone.

Shared teardown reminder

After you finish a path’s own teardown page, delete the shared VPC and IAM roles only when you are done with both paths (see the teardown page you used — it ends with shared cleanup).