What information does instance metadata provide?

Instance metadata provides configuration and management data of the running instance. This includes a wide range of useful information that can be used to understand the instance's environment and behavior. For example, it includes details such as the instance ID, the AMI ID, instance type, security groups, and the private IP address, among others.

This metadata is accessible to applications and scripts running on the instance itself via a special HTTP endpoint. This allows for automation and configuration management tasks, such as retrieving the instance’s IAM role to interact with other AWS services securely or gathering parameters for application configuration.

In contrast, other options such as billing information, network performance statistics, and external access logs are either not provided through instance metadata or pertain to different AWS services and management tools. Therefore, choosing the response related to configuration and management data accurately captures the primary function of instance metadata.