Amazon EBS
Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) is a block storage service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It offers persistent, high-performance storage volumes that can be attached to Amazon EC2 instances. Here's a detailed look into Amazon EBS:
History and Development
- Amazon EBS was introduced by AWS in August 2008, shortly after the launch of Amazon EC2, to provide block-level storage for EC2 instances.
- Initially, EBS volumes were limited to 1TB in size and could only be attached to a single instance at a time. Over time, AWS has expanded the capabilities significantly:
- In 2010, EBS introduced snapshot capabilities to create point-in-time copies of volumes.
- In 2012, EBS introduced Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1), allowing for consistent performance.
- By 2014, General Purpose SSD (gp2) volumes were introduced, which improved cost-effectiveness for a wide range of workloads.
- 2017 saw the introduction of Throughput Optimized HDD (st1) and Cold HDD (sc1) for lower cost, higher throughput, or cold data storage.
- More recent developments include the introduction of io2 Block Express in 2021, offering even higher IOPS and throughput for demanding applications.
Features and Capabilities
- Persistent Storage: EBS volumes persist independently of the life of an EC2 instance, allowing data to be retained even if an instance is stopped or terminated.
- Volume Types: EBS offers several volume types tailored to different performance needs:
- SSD-backed volumes for high performance (gp2, gp3, io1, io2).
- HDD-backed volumes for throughput-intensive workloads or less frequently accessed data (st1, sc1).
- Snapshots: Users can take snapshots of EBS volumes, which are stored in Amazon S3 for data backup and recovery.
- Multi-Attach: With the introduction of io2 Block Express, multiple EC2 instances can now attach the same EBS volume simultaneously.
- Data Encryption: EBS supports encryption of data at rest using AWS Key Management Service (KMS).
- Performance: Users can provision IOPS and throughput to meet the performance requirements of their applications.
Use Cases
- Database Storage: Suitable for databases requiring low-latency, high-IOPS performance.
- Big Data Analytics: Ideal for applications requiring large, sequential I/O operations.
- Backup and Disaster Recovery: EBS snapshots provide an efficient way for data backup and recovery.
- Enterprise Applications: Can support critical applications that need persistent and reliable storage.
References
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