Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) Overview and Setup Guide

Discover Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS), a high-performance block storage system for Amazon EC2. Learn about EBS volume types, benefits, and how to set up and manage EBS volumes.

Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) Overview

Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) provides persistent block storage for Amazon EC2 instances. It is designed to deliver high-performance storage and offers various volume types tailored for different workloads and use cases. Here’s a breakdown of the EBS volume types:

EBS Volume Types

1. EBS General Purpose (SSD)

  • Use Cases: Small to medium workloads such as root disk EC2 volumes, databases, and frequently accessed logs.
  • Performance: Provides 3 IOPS (Input/Output Operations per Second) per GB by default.
  • Storage Capacity: Ranges from 1 GB to 1 TB.
  • Cost: $0.10 per GB per month.

2. Provisioned IOPS (SSD)

  • Use Cases: I/O-intensive workloads, large databases, and applications like Hadoop.
  • Performance: Provides 30 IOPS per GB by default.
  • Storage Capacity: Ranges from 10 GB to 1 TB.
  • Cost: $0.125 per GB per month, plus $0.10 per provisioned IOPS per month.

3. EBS Magnetic Volumes

  • Use Cases: Infrequent access workloads such as backups and logs.
  • Storage Capacity: Ranges from 10 GB to 1 TB.
  • Cost: $0.05 per GB per month and $0.05 per million I/O requests.

Amazon EBS Benefits

  • Reliable and Secure Storage: EBS volumes are automatically replicated within their Availability Zone, protecting your data from component failures.
  • Flexible Access Control: Amazon’s access control policies allow you to specify who can access each EBS volume, enhancing security.
  • High Performance: EBS uses SSD technology to provide consistent I/O performance, suitable for demanding applications.
  • Easy Data Backup: You can take point-in-time snapshots of your EBS volumes for straightforward data backup.

How to Set Up Amazon EBS

Step 1: Create an EBS Volume

  1. Open the Amazon EC2 console.
  2. Select the region where you want to create the volume.
  3. In the navigation pane, choose Volumes, then click Create Volume.
  4. Provide the necessary details such as Volume Type, Size, IOPS, and Availability Zone, then click Create.
  5. Your new volume will appear in the volumes list.

Step 2: Restore EBS Volume from a Snapshot

  1. Follow the steps above to create a volume.
  2. Enter the Snapshot ID from which you want to restore the volume in the Snapshot ID field.
  3. Adjust the storage size if needed.
  4. Click Yes, Create to restore the volume.

Step 3: Attach EBS Volume to an Instance

  1. Open the Amazon EC2 console.
  2. In the navigation pane, select Volumes.
  3. Choose a volume and click Attach Volume.
  4. In the Attach Volume dialog box, enter the name or ID of the instance to attach the volume to, or select it from the suggested options.
  5. Click Attach.
  6. Connect to the instance and make the volume available.

Step 4: Detach a Volume from an Instance

  1. Use the command /dev/sdh in the command line to unmount the device.
  2. Open the Amazon EC2 console.
  3. In the navigation pane, select Volumes.
  4. Choose the volume you want to detach and click Detach Volume.
  5. Confirm the action in the dialog box by clicking Yes, Detach.

By following these steps and understanding the benefits and types of EBS volumes, you can efficiently manage and scale your storage needs on AWS.