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Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) is a high-performance block storage service offered by AWS. It is designed to be used with Amazon EC2 for both throughput and transaction-intensive workloads at any scale.

What is AWS EBS?

AWS EBS (Elastic Block Store) provides persistent block-level storage volumes for use with Amazon EC2 instances. These volumes behave like raw, unformatted block devices, which you can format and mount as file systems.

Each EBS volume is automatically replicated within its Availability Zone to protect from component failure, offering high availability and durability.

Why and When is AWS EBS Used?

You would use AWS EBS when you need:

Persistent storage that survives instance termination (if the volume is not deleted)
High performance and low latency for mission-critical workloads
File systems, databases, or applications that require frequent read/write access
Backup and restore operations using EBS snapshots

Common Use Cases:

Hosting databases like MySQL, MongoDB, or PostgreSQL
Running enterprise applications (ERP, CRM)
Boot volumes for EC2 instances
Storing logs or application data with frequent updates

Types of AWS EBS Volumes

EBS offers various volume types optimized for performance and cost:

| Volume Type | Description | Use Case | | ------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | gp3 (General Purpose SSD) | Balanced price/performance for most workloads | Boot volumes, dev/test environments | | io2 / io2 Block Express | High-performance SSDs with high IOPS | Critical databases, latency-sensitive apps | | st1 (Throughput Optimized HDD) | Low-cost HDD with high throughput | Big data, data warehouses | | sc1 (Cold HDD) | Lowest cost HDD, infrequent access | Archival, rarely accessed data |

Cost of AWS EBS

EBS pricing depends on:

Volume type (gp3, io2, etc.)
Provisioned storage (GB per month)
Provisioned IOPS (for io2/io1)
Snapshot storage
Data transfer (between regions or AZs)

💡 Example: As of 2025, gp3 pricing starts around $0.08 per GB-month in the US East region.

Check the official AWS EBS pricing page for current rates.

Difference Between Amazon S3 and EBS

Here’s how EBS compares with S3:

| Feature | Amazon EBS | Amazon S3 | | ------------ | --------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | | Storage Type | Block storage | Object storage | | Attached To | EC2 instances (as disks) | Accessible via HTTP/S API | | Persistence | Persistent (survives EC2 restart) | Highly durable and persistent | | Use Case | File systems, databases, OS disks | Backup, media, logs, static assets | | Performance | Low-latency, high IOPS | High durability, lower latency | | Access | Mounted to EC2 | Accessible via SDK, API, or console | | Cost | Higher per GB | Lower per GB |

Conclusion

AWS EBS is a powerful and flexible block storage solution ideal for EC2 workloads that require persistent and high-performance storage. By understanding its types, pricing, and differences from services like S3, you can choose the right storage option for your applications on AWS.