Amazon EBS

Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) is a service by AWS that provides persistent, high-performance block storage for EC2 instances. It is ideal for applications that need frequent data access. EBS offers various volume types, each designed for different performance and cost needs:

• General Purpose SSD (gp2/gp3): Balances cost and performance, suitable for everyday workloads like small databases or boot volumes;
• Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1/io2): Offers consistent, low-latency performance, perfect for critical business applications and large databases where I/O performance is crucial;
• Throughput Optimized HDD (st1): Designed for large data stores needing high throughput at a lower cost, ideal for big data processing or data warehousing with sequential access;
• Cold HDD (sc1): The most economical option for infrequently accessed data, great for archival or backup scenarios.

Understanding performance metrics like IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second), throughput, and latency is essential when choosing the right volume type for your workload. For example, while General Purpose SSD is versatile, applications requiring high IOPS or throughput might benefit more from Provisioned IOPS SSD or Throughput Optimized HDD.

EBS Snapshots are crucial for backup and disaster recovery. They are point-in-time copies stored in Amazon S3, saving only changes since the last snapshot to keep costs low. Lifecycle policies automate snapshot management, ensuring regular backups and controlling storage costs by removing outdated snapshots. Snapshots can also be used to clone or create new volumes, aiding in data management across regions or accounts.

Encryption in EBS protects data at rest, in transit, and on attached volumes, managed through AWS KMS (Key Management Service). You can enable encryption when creating a new volume or encrypt existing ones by creating and restoring from an encrypted snapshot. This is essential for compliance and data protection without major performance impacts.

EBS volumes are flexible, allowing resizing or changing volume types to meet changing workload needs. This flexibility requires careful management to maintain performance. Regular audits, implementing IAM roles for access control, and ensuring encryption are standard security practices.