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Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS)

Amazon EBS

Amazon EBS provides persistent block-level storage volumes for EC2 instances, acting like external hard drives that retain data even when instances are stopped or terminated.

Key EBS Characteristics​

  • Persistent Storage: Data survives instance stops, starts, and termination unlike instance store
  • Independent Lifecycle: EBS volumes exist independently of EC2 instances
  • Attachable/Detachable: Volumes can be attached to different instances as needed
  • Backup Capable: Supports point-in-time snapshots for data protection
  • Scalable: Volume size and performance can be modified without downtime

Persistent vs Instance Store Comparison​

EC2 Instance Store:

  • Temporary storage physically attached to host computer
  • Data lost when instance stops or terminates
  • No additional cost but no persistence
  • High performance for temporary data
EC2 Instance Store Architecture

EBS Volumes:

  • Network-attached persistent storage
  • Data persists independently of instance state
  • Additional cost but provides data durability
  • Consistent performance with various volume types
EC2 with EBS Volumes Architecture

Root vs Data Store Usage​

Persistent Root Store: EBS can serve as the root volume containing the operating system, ensuring OS and configuration persistence across instance restarts.

Data Store: Additional EBS volumes can be attached for application data, databases, and file systems requiring long-term storage and backup capabilities.

Core Benefits​

  • Data Migration: Easy movement between Availability Zones using snapshots
  • Instance Flexibility: Attach volumes to different instance types without data loss
  • Disaster Recovery: Automated snapshots enable reliable backup and restore
  • Cost Optimization: Modify volume types and sizes to match usage patterns
  • Performance Tuning: Various volume types (gp3, io2, etc.) for different IOPS requirements

Benefits: EBS provides enterprise-grade persistent storage with snapshot backup, cross-AZ portability, and performance flexibility for mission-critical applications.

Use case: EBS is ideal for databases, file systems, enterprise applications, and any workload requiring data persistence beyond the EC2 instance lifecycle.

Additional Resources​