Answer: Amazon Machine Image (AMI)

## Explanation An **Amazon Machine Image (AMI)** is a template that contains a software configuration (operating system, application server, and applications) and security requirements needed to launch an Amazon EC2 instance. Key characteristics of AMIs: - **Prepackaged templates** containing operating systems, applications, and configurations - **Deployable** - can be used to launch multiple EC2 instances with identical configurations - **Security requirements** - can include security settings and permissions - **Template-based** - serves as a blueprint for EC2 instances **Why other options are incorrect:** - **Amazon EBS volume**: A block storage device for EC2 instances, not a deployable template - **AWS CloudFormation template**: Infrastructure as code template for deploying AWS resources, not specifically an EC2 instance template - **Amazon EBS snapshot**: A backup of an EBS volume, not a deployable instance template The AMI provides the foundational template that allows you to launch EC2 instances with consistent, preconfigured environments.

Author: Ritesh Yadav