What are the EBS volume types and their use cases?
AWS · Intermediate level
Answer
gp3 is the common general-purpose EBS default, io2 is for high-IOPS low-latency critical workloads, st1 is throughput HDD, and sc1 is cold HDD. I choose by IOPS, throughput, latency, instance limits, durability, and cost.
Technical explanation
Volume performance must be compared with the EC2 instance's own EBS bandwidth limits.
AWS storage choices are based on access model: block storage for disks, object storage for objects, shared file storage for POSIX file access, and ephemeral storage for rebuildable temporary data.
Performance must be evaluated at both the storage layer and instance/network layer; a high-performance volume cannot exceed instance bandwidth limits.
Backups are only useful when restore is tested, retention is aligned to policy, and encryption/cross-account/cross-Region protection is considered.
Hands-on example
1. Provision the storage option in a test environment with encryption, tags, backups, and monitoring enabled.
2. Run a workload-specific benchmark for IOPS, throughput, latency, concurrency, or shared-file behavior.
3. Create and restore a backup or snapshot to prove recovery rather than only creation.
4. Document the selected storage type, limits, cost assumptions, and restore runbook.
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