what is an instance in cloud computing

An instance in cloud computing is a virtual server that runs your workloads in the cloud. It is a computing environment that is hosted on the cloud providers network and is built and delivered by cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services. An instance is much like a physical server, but it is not a physical machine. Instead, it is a virtualized computing resource that can be created and used as needed without the requirement for physical hardware. Cloud providers maintain hardware in their data centers and give you virtual access to compute resources in the form of an instance. You can use the cloud instance for running compute-intensive workloads like containers, databases, microservices, and virtual machines. Instances in the cloud spin up and down all the time depending on the requirements of the workload, and this is commonly known as auto-scaling. You can configure the cloud server to meet your memory, graphics processing, CPU, and other requirements. The steps for creating a new instance vary depending on the cloud provider, but you can use a visual interface or API calls to programmatically create instances. One instance can host a workload or use a group of instances in a cluster. You can spread out the instances in different geographical regions. Cloud instances offer the ability to handle workloads and scale the applications without worrying about maintenance.