In this, we’ll go step by step through the process of launching two EC2 instances in different availability zones, setting up Apache web servers, uploading a website template, and configuring an Application Load Balancer (ALB) with target groups for high availability and load distribution.

🖥️ Step 1: Create the First EC2 Instance

Go to the AWS EC2 dashboard and follow these steps:

  • Click Launch Instance
  • Name: Web Server
  • AMI: Amazon Linux
  • Instance Type: t2.micro (Free Tier eligible)
  • Key Pair: Select an existing key or create a new one
  • Network Settings:
    • Edit settings
    • Choose Default VPC
    • Enable Auto-assign Public IP
    • Set Availability Zone: ap-south-1a
  • Security Group: Choose existing security group (Launch Wizard 1)
  • Click Launch Instance

First Instance Created

🖥️ Step 2: Create the Second EC2 Instance (in a different zone)

Repeat the process above with a slight change:

  • Availability Zone: Select ap-south-1b

This ensures your setup is multi-AZ for better fault tolerance.

🔐 Step 3: Security Group Settings

For simplicity in testing:

  • Go to Security Groups
  • Select Launch Wizard 1
  • Edit inbound rules:
    • Type: All traffic
    • Protocol: All
    • Port Range: All
    • Source: Custom – 0.0.0.0/0

⚠️ Warning: Allowing all traffic from anywhere is only recommended for testing/demo purposes.

📁 Step 4: Upload Website Template to EC2 Instances

1. Connect to EC2:

In EC2 dashboard:

  • Select the instance
  • Click Connect
  • Choose EC2 Instance Connect → Connect

2. Run the Following Commands: 

sudo su
yum update -y
yum install httpd -y
service httpd start

3. Move to Web Directory: 

cd /var/www/html

4. Download Free Template:

Go to Free CSS Templates

Copy the ZIP link of your favorite template.

wget 
ls
unzip .zip
ls
cd 
mv * ..

Repeat the same steps for the second instance, but use a different template for differentiation in load balancing.

⚖️ Step 5: Create Target Groups

Target Group 1:

  • Navigate to Target Groups → Create Target Group
  • Type: Instances
  • Protocol: HTTP
  • Port: 80
  • VPC: Default
  • Health Check Path: /index.html
  • Name: TG1
  • Register the first EC2 instance and set port to 80

First TG Group

Target Group 2:

Repeat the steps, name it TG2, and register the second EC2 instance.

Second TG Group

🌍 Step 6: Create Application Load Balancer

Go to Load Balancers → Create Load Balancer → Application Load Balancer.

  • Name: App-LB
  • Scheme: Internet-facing
  • IP address type: IPv4
  • VPC: Default
  • Availability Zones: Select both Zone A and Zone B
  • Security Group: Launch Wizard 1

Load Balancer Created

🎯 Step 7: Add Listeners and Target Groups

  • Listener 1:
    • Port: 80
    • Forward to: TG1 (First Instance)

First Site in LB

  • Listener 2:
    • Add another port like 81 or 89
    • Forward to: TG2 (Second Instance)

Second Site in LB

🌐 Step 8: Test the Load Balancer

After creating the load balancer, go to:

  • Load Balancer > Description
  • Copy the DNS name

Open the DNS in your browser:

  • http:// will load the first instance
  • http://:81 (or 89) will load the second one

✅ Conclusion

You’ve successfully:

  • Created multi-AZ EC2 instances
  • Deployed different web templates
  • Set up target groups
  • Created an Application Load Balancer
  • Configured multiple listeners for routing

Now, you’ve got a scalable, resilient architecture ready for production (with more secure settings, of course).