EBS Volume Type refers to the different types of Elastic Block Store (EBS) volumes that are available in Amazon Web Services (AWS). EBS volumes are virtual hard drives that can be attached to EC2 instances, providing persistent block-level storage for applications and data.
There are different EBS volume types that provide varying levels of performance, durability, and cost, allowing users to choose the best option for their specific workload.
Different types of volumes have its own performance characteristics and use cases. The following are the different EBS volume types:
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- General Purpose SSD (gp2/gp3):
- gp2 volumes are the default EBS volume type and are suitable for a wide range of workloads. It is one of the most popular EBS volume types due to its ability to deliver consistent performance at a lower cost compared to other EBS volume types.gp2 volumes provide a baseline performance of 3 IOPS per GB, with a minimum of 100 IOPS and a maximum of 16,000 IOPS per volume.The throughput rate for gp2 volumes is also dependent on the size of the volume, with a maximum throughput of 250 MB/s. One of the key benefits of gp2 volumes is their ability to automatically adjust performance based on workload requirements. This means that if the workload requires more IOPS or throughput, the volume will automatically provide it, up to the maximum performance level allowed for the volume.
In addition, gp2 volumes can be easily resized or changed to meet changing performance needs, without the need for a volume snapshot or outage. This makes it easy to scale your storage capacity as your workload grows.
- gp3 is a type of Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) volume that provides a balance of price and performance for a wide variety of workloads. It is the successor to the popular gp2 volume type and provides up to 20% lower cost per GB than gp2 volumes. gp3 volumes provide a baseline performance of 3,000 IOPS and 125 MB/s throughput, and can burst up to 16,000 IOPS and 1,000 MB/s throughput for short periods of time.This burst capability allows gp3 volumes to handle sudden spikes in workload without sacrificing performance. One of the key benefits of gp3 volumes is their flexibility. They can be easily resized or changed to meet changing performance needs, without the need for a volume snapshot or outage. gp3 volumes also support Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) direct APIs for faster data access.
- gp2 volumes are the default EBS volume type and are suitable for a wide range of workloads. It is one of the most popular EBS volume types due to its ability to deliver consistent performance at a lower cost compared to other EBS volume types.gp2 volumes provide a baseline performance of 3 IOPS per GB, with a minimum of 100 IOPS and a maximum of 16,000 IOPS per volume.The throughput rate for gp2 volumes is also dependent on the size of the volume, with a maximum throughput of 250 MB/s. One of the key benefits of gp2 volumes is their ability to automatically adjust performance based on workload requirements. This means that if the workload requires more IOPS or throughput, the volume will automatically provide it, up to the maximum performance level allowed for the volume.
- Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1):
- io1 is optimized for high performance and low-latency I/O workloads, such as large databases, high-performance computing (HPC), and other mission-critical applications. It is designed to deliver consistent, low-latency performance and high durability for mission-critical applications that require high IOPS and low latency.io1 volumes provide a baseline performance of 50 IOPS per GB, with a minimum of 100 IOPS and a maximum of 64,000 IOPS per volume.The throughput rate for io1 volumes is also dependent on the size of the volume, with a maximum throughput of 1,000 MB/s. One of the key benefits of io1 volumes is their ability to deliver consistent, low-latency performance for high I/O workloads. They achieve this by using dedicated storage capacity that is isolated from other workloads, and by providing a higher number of IOPS per GB than other EBS volume types.
In addition, io1 volumes support Provisioned IOPS, which allows you to provision the exact number of IOPS your workload requires, up to the maximum IOPS allowed for the volume. This gives you fine-grained control over your performance requirements, and ensures that your workload is always getting the performance it needs.
However, one potential downside of io1 volumes is that they can be more expensive than other EBS volume types due to their high performance and dedicated storage capacity. Therefore, they are typically best suited for mission-critical applications and workloads that require high IOPS and low latency.
- io2 is a type of Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) volume that is designed for high-performance applications requiring high levels of input/output operations per second (IOPS), low latency, and high throughput.io2 volumes are designed to deliver consistent performance and low-latency access to data.They are suitable for mission-critical applications such as databases, data warehouses, and analytics workloads that require high performance and durability.io2 volumes offer several benefits over other EBS volume types, including:
- Higher IOPS: io2 volumes support up to 500 IOPS per GB of storage, with a maximum of 64,000 IOPS per volume. This is significantly higher than the IOPS offered by other EBS volume types.
- Lower latency: io2 volumes offer low-latency access to data, which is important for applications that require fast and responsive data access.
- Higher throughput: io2 volumes provide higher throughput than other EBS volume types, making them suitable for applications that require high levels of data transfer.
- Enhanced durability: io2 volumes are designed for 99.999% durability, which means that data stored on these volumes is highly resilient to failures and data loss.
- Elasticity: io2 volumes can be dynamically scaled up or down to meet changing performance and capacity requirements, without any downtime or interruption to services.
However, io2 volumes are more expensive than other EBS volume types, so they may not be suitable for all workloads. It’s important to carefully evaluate the performance and cost requirements of your application before selecting an EBS volume type.
- io1 is optimized for high performance and low-latency I/O workloads, such as large databases, high-performance computing (HPC), and other mission-critical applications. It is designed to deliver consistent, low-latency performance and high durability for mission-critical applications that require high IOPS and low latency.io1 volumes provide a baseline performance of 50 IOPS per GB, with a minimum of 100 IOPS and a maximum of 64,000 IOPS per volume.The throughput rate for io1 volumes is also dependent on the size of the volume, with a maximum throughput of 1,000 MB/s. One of the key benefits of io1 volumes is their ability to deliver consistent, low-latency performance for high I/O workloads. They achieve this by using dedicated storage capacity that is isolated from other workloads, and by providing a higher number of IOPS per GB than other EBS volume types.
- Throughput Optimized HDD (st1):
- st1 (throughput optimized HDD) volume is a type of EBS volume designed to deliver high levels of throughput performance for big data, data warehouses, and log processing workloads that require large, sequential I/O throughput and large, frequently accessed datasets.st1 volumes are designed to provide low-cost storage for frequently accessed, throughput-intensive workloads such as big data, data warehouses, log processing, and media transcoding.They are ideal for handling large amounts of data that needs to be processed sequentially, such as with Apache Hadoop, Apache Spark, and other data analytics platforms.st1 volumes have a maximum throughput of 500 MB/s and a maximum capacity of 64 TiB. They are priced lower than other EBS volume types, making them an attractive option for large, throughput-intensive workloads.
However, they have higher latency and lower IOPS than other EBS volume types, so they are not recommended for workloads that require high I/O operations per second or low-latency storage access.
- st1 (throughput optimized HDD) volume is a type of EBS volume designed to deliver high levels of throughput performance for big data, data warehouses, and log processing workloads that require large, sequential I/O throughput and large, frequently accessed datasets.st1 volumes are designed to provide low-cost storage for frequently accessed, throughput-intensive workloads such as big data, data warehouses, log processing, and media transcoding.They are ideal for handling large amounts of data that needs to be processed sequentially, such as with Apache Hadoop, Apache Spark, and other data analytics platforms.st1 volumes have a maximum throughput of 500 MB/s and a maximum capacity of 64 TiB. They are priced lower than other EBS volume types, making them an attractive option for large, throughput-intensive workloads.
- Cold HDD (sc1):
- sc1 volumes are designed for infrequently accessed data that requires low cost storage. They provide low-cost storage with a maximum throughput of 250 MB/s per volume. These volumes use magnetic storage media and provide the lowest cost per gigabyte of all EBS volume types. They are ideal for large, sequential workloads such as big data, data warehousing, log processing, and backup and recovery. However, they may have higher latency and lower IOPS compared to other EBS volume types.
- General Purpose SSD (gp2/gp3):
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Each EBS volume type has its own performance characteristics, pricing, and use cases. It’s important to choose the right EBS volume type for your workload to ensure that you get the required performance and cost-effectiveness.