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Editor’s note: Updated the article to cover recent market trends as of 2026.
What Is EBS?
Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) is a high-performance block storage solution designed to be used with EC2 instances. It works by giving the user access to a multitude of small network-attached blocks, each of which is presented as a simple volume.
This distributed way of providing storage allows for easy expansion of storage capacity when needed; EBS volumes can scale into petabytes of data. EBS also ensures high availability (HA) and durability by replicating all data within the Availability Zone (AZ).
Amazon EBS volumes are very easy to use, whether you need to add them to or remove them from the EC2 instance, modify their size, or change their type. With only a couple of clicks, you can create an EBS snapshot, effectively making a backup of your entire volume. This can later be used to recreate the data if necessary.
This is part of a series of articles about AWS Backup.
AWS EBS Volume Trends
Shift Toward gp3 as the Default General-Purpose Volume
AWS EBS usage is increasingly shifting toward gp3 volumes because they separate storage capacity from performance. Unlike gp2, where performance scales mainly with volume size, gp3 lets users provision IOPS and throughput independently. This makes gp3 more flexible and often more cost-efficient for general-purpose workloads. AWS states that gp3 provides baseline performance of 3,000 IOPS and 125 MiB/s at any volume size, and newer gp3 limits now allow up to 64 TiB, 80,000 IOPS, and 2,000 MiB/s per volume.
Higher Performance Without Complex Storage Architectures
AWS has increased gp3 performance limits, which allows many users to avoid complex setups such as RAID striping across multiple EBS volumes. With larger and faster gp3 volumes, some workloads that previously required multiple striped volumes can now run on a single volume, simplifying architecture and reducing management overhead. AWS notes that the newer gp3 limits can help applications meet higher performance targets with fewer volumes.
Growth of io2 Block Express for Mission-Critical Workloads
For high-performance enterprise workloads, io2 Block Express is becoming the preferred EBS option. It is designed for large, latency-sensitive applications such as critical databases, SAP HANA, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server. AWS positions Provisioned IOPS SSD volumes for workloads that require sustained IOPS performance, and io2 Block Express supports very high performance, high durability, and large volume sizes.
More Workload-Specific Volume Selection
EBS volume selection is becoming more workload-specific rather than relying on one default volume type. AWS separates SSD-backed volumes, which are optimized for small, random I/O and IOPS-heavy workloads, from HDD-backed volumes, which are better for large, sequential throughput workloads. This means gp3 is often used for general-purpose applications, io2 Block Express for critical databases, st1 for throughput-heavy workloads, and sc1 for cold or infrequently accessed data.
Stronger Focus on Cost Optimization
Cost optimization is also a major EBS trend. Since EBS costs depend on provisioned storage, provisioned performance, snapshots, and unused resources, teams are paying more attention to right-sizing volumes, deleting unattached volumes, managing snapshots, and avoiding over-provisioned IOPS or throughput. The shift to gp3 supports this trend because users can provision only the performance they need instead of increasing storage size just to gain more IOPS.
An Overview of AWS EBS Volume Types
All EBS volumes fall into two categories: SSD-backed EBS volume types and HDD-backed EBS volume types.
Solid State Drives (SSD) Volume Types
1. General Purpose SSD (gp2) Volumes
General Purpose SSD (gp2) volumes are the most common types of EBS volumes. They were designed to be a cost-effective storage option for a wide variety of workloads.
Use cases: gp2 volumes cover system volumes, dev and test environments, and various low-latency apps.
Storage size: They come in sizes between 1GiB and 16GiB and provide very low latency, down to single-digit milliseconds.
Performance: gp2 volumes have a decent IOPS (starting from 100 and going all the way to 16000 IOPS) and a maximum throughput of 250MiB/s. You can combine multiple Amazon EBS volume types in a RAID to achieve even higher performance on a single instance.
The overall performance of gp2 volumes is directly related to their size; users get 3 IOPS per each GiB. This defines baseline performance as well as how quickly you gain the I/O credits which can be used for burst performance when needed.
Cost: gp2 volumes are fairly cheap, especially for the balanced performance they provide. They are priced at $0.1 per GB per month of provisioned storage.
2. Provisioned EBS IOPS SSD (io1) Volumes
Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1) types of EBS volumes are a special type of volume created to fulfill the needs of very intensive I/O workloads that require very high throughput.
Use cases: They are useful for cases which are latency-sensitive, like large database workloads (e.g., MySQL, Cassandra, MongoDB, and Oracle) and critical business applications that need the kind of sustained performance gp2 volumes can’t achieve.
Storage size: Io1 volumes can store between 4GiB and 16TiB, and their IOPS can be as low as 100 or high as 64000 IOPS per volume with up to 1,000 MiB/s of throughput.
Performance: While the performance of gp2 volumes is dictated by volume size, the performance of provisioned IOPS SSD volumes can be set during creation time. It is limited by a maximum IOPS to volume size ratio of 50:1.
Cost: $0.125 per GB per month of provisioned storage and $0.065 per provisioned IOPS per month.
Hard Disk Drives (HDD) Volume Types
3. Throughput Optimized HDD (st1) Volumes
Throughput Optimized HDD (st1) volumes are a type of volume that offers low-cost storage while fulfilling the need for sequential workloads that require more throughput than IOPS.
Use cases: When working with data warehouses, log processing, ETL (extract, transform, load) or AWS EMR, this is a volume type to look into. Keep in mind that this AWS EBS volume type cannot be used as a boot volume.
Storage size: st1 volumes can range in size between 500GiB and 16TiB, and they allow for 500 MiB/s of throughput per volume with 500 IOPS.
Performance: st1, like gp2, relies on burstable performance, and volume size will be the main factor when calculating baseline performance.
Cost: st1 volumes come with a lower price tag: $0.045 per GB per month of provisioned storage.
4. Cold HDD (sc1) Volumes
Cold HDD (sc1) volumes, like st1 volumes, provide low-cost storage for workloads that rely on throughput rather than IOPS.
Use cases: sc1 volumes are primarily used for large amounts of data that is infrequently accessed, or in cases where the cost of storage is the most important factor.
Storage size: sc1 volumes come in sizes between 500GiB and 16TiB
Performance: sc1 volumes provide up to 250 IOPS and 250MiB/s of throughput per volume. sc1, just like st1, cannot be used as a boot volume and relies on burstable performance.
Cost: sc1 volumes are the cheapest option available, costing only $0.025 per GB per month of provisioned storage.
5. EBS GP3 Volumes
SSD (gp3) volumes are the newest version of EBS General Purpose volumes. They provide better performance at a discount compared to gp2 volumes (up to 20% per GB). These volumes are suitable for predictable workloads requiring baseline performance of 3000 IOPS.
Use cases: gp3 volumes are used for medium-sized databases like Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server, virtual desktops, boot volumes, and interactive latency-sensitive applications. They are suitable for development and testing environments.
Storage size: gp3 volumes offer the same capacity as gp2, between 1GiB and 16GiB.
Performance: gp3 volumes support throughput of up to 1000 MiB/second per volume. They support up to 16000 IOPS per volume at 64 KiB per I/O (compared to just 16 KiB per I/O for gp2 volumes).
Cost: gp3 volumes are priced at $0.08 per GB-month of storage, with 3,000 free IOPs and 125 MB/second throughput. Beyond these limits, costs include $0.005 per IOPS-month and $0.04 per MB/second-month throughput.
- Choose gp3 for predictable workloads with IOPS needs: gp3 volumes offer better baseline performance and are cheaper than gp2, making them ideal for workloads that require predictable IOPS without the need for burst performance.
- Select instance types that complement your volume choice: Ensure your EC2 instance type supports the IOPS and throughput of your EBS volume. For example, high IOPS io1 volumes need to be paired with EC2 instances that can handle the required network bandwidth, such as M5 or C5 instances.
- Leverage io1/io2 for latency-sensitive databases: For high-performance databases (like Oracle or MySQL) where low latency is crucial, use io1 or io2 volumes. They offer configurable IOPS independent of volume size, up to 64,000 IOPS, which is critical for transaction-heavy applications.
- Monitor volume performance with CloudWatch: Set up CloudWatch alarms to track key metrics like IOPS, latency, and throughput. This helps identify whether your selected volume type is performing optimally, allowing for timely adjustments.
- Automate backup policies with lifecycle management: Use N2W or AWS Backup to automate snapshot backups of EBS volumes, especially before resizing or modifying them. Leverage lifecycle policies to move snapshots to cheaper storage tiers (e.g., S3 Glacier).
6. Previous Generation Magnetic Volumes
Previous generation magnetic volumes, also known as Standard volumes, were the original EBS offering before the introduction of SSD and HDD-backed volumes. These volumes were designed to provide a balance of cost and performance for applications with moderate IOPS requirements. However, they are now considered outdated and are typically not recommended for new applications.
Use cases: Standard magnetic volumes provide a storage option for applications that do not require high throughput or IOPS. They are suitable for workloads where data is accessed infrequently and where performance is not a critical factor. These volumes can be used for scenarios such as backups, archival storage, and data that is accessed less frequently.
Storage size: They are available in sizes ranging from 1 GiB to 1 TiB. The performance of these volumes does not scale with size, which limits their effectiveness for larger workloads.
Performance: Standard magnetic volumes offer a maximum throughput of 40–90 MiB/s and can handle up to 200 IOPS per volume.
Cost: Magnetic volumes are one of the more cost-effective options, priced at $0.05 per GB per month of provisioned storage.
7. Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2 Block Express) Volumes
Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2 Block Express) volumes are the highest-performance EBS SSD volumes, designed for mission-critical workloads that need extremely high IOPS, high throughput, low latency, and strong durability. They are the newer generation of Provisioned IOPS SSD storage and offer much higher limits than io1 volumes. AWS describes io2 Block Express as supporting up to 256,000 IOPS, 4,000 MB/s throughput, 64 TiB of capacity, and 99.999% durability.
Use cases: io2 Block Express volumes are best suited for the largest, most I/O-intensive and latency-sensitive applications. Common examples include large relational and NoSQL databases, Oracle, SAP HANA, Microsoft SQL Server, SAS Analytics, and other critical business applications where consistent performance and durability are required.
Storage size: io2 Block Express volumes can range from 4 GiB up to 64 TiB, making them suitable for very large database and enterprise workloads.
Performance: These volumes can provide up to 256,000 IOPS and up to 4,000 MB/s of throughput per volume, with sub-millisecond latency. Unlike gp2 volumes, where performance is tied mainly to volume size, io2 Block Express allows users to provision the IOPS they need, up to 1,000 IOPS per GiB. AWS also notes that io2 Block Express provides significantly higher IOPS, throughput, and capacity than io1.
Cost: io2 Block Express uses the same storage pricing model as other Provisioned IOPS SSD volumes, with separate charges for provisioned storage and provisioned IOPS. AWS lists pricing at $0.125 per GB-month of storage, with tiered provisioned IOPS pricing: $0.065 per provisioned IOPS-month up to 32,000 IOPS, $0.046 per provisioned IOPS-month from 32,001 to 64,000 IOPS, and $0.032 per provisioned IOPS-month above 64,000 IOPS.
AWS EBS Volume Types Summary Table
The table below provides a quick comparison of the AWS EBS pricing and EBS volume types:
| Volume Type | General Purpose SSD (gp2) | Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1) | Throughput Optimized HDD (st1) | Cold HDD (sc1) | General Purpose SSD (gp3) |
| Uses | General purpose SSD volume that balances performance and price; used for low-latency app, dev and test environments | Highest-performance SSD volume, designed for mission-critical, low-latency, or high-throughput applications; used for large databases, and critical business applications | Low-cost HDD volume designed for throughput-intensive workloads; used for log processing, data warehouses, and streaming workloads | Lowest cost HDD volume designed for infrequently accessed data; used as a cheap storage solution | Suitable for predictable workloads requiring baseline performance of 3000 IOPS. |
| Volume Size | 1GiB—16TiB | 4GiB—16TiB | 500GiB—16TiB | 500GiB—16TiB | 1GiB—16TiB |
| Max Throughput per Volume | 250MiB/s | 1000MiB/s | 500MiB/s | 250MiB/s | up to 1000 MiB/s |
| Max IOPS per Volume | 16000 | 64000 | 500 | 250 | 16000 |
| Cost | $0.1 per GB | $0.125 per GB + $0.065 per IOPS | $0.045 per GB | $0.025 per GB | $0.08 per GB* |
What Are Instance Store Volumes?
Instance store volumes are a special block-level storage option that can be used on AWS. Unlike EBS volumes, which are network attached, these are physically attached to the host computer. They are meant to serve as temporary storage solutions only, used for caches, buffers, and other ephemeral data.
The lifetime of the instance store volume depends directly on the instance to which it is attached. If you reboot the instance, the data will persist; but, if you stop the instances, terminate them, or even change the instance type, your data will be lost.
Instance store volumes can actually provide very high performance, delivering high random I/O which can be good for low-latency workloads. They can even outperform EBS volumes in writes and uncached reads.
Instance store volumes come with no individual cost; instead, they are included as part of the instance’s usage cost. Like EBS types, these also come with specific instance types—usually specialized ones with higher price tags.
For example, the i3 family (starting at $0.156 per hour), a storage-optimized instance designed for I/O performance, uses instance store volumes for its workloads.
High-performance, GPU-backed instances like g3 ($1.14 per hour) and memory-optimized instances meant for in-memory applications such as x1 (a very expensive instance with its lowest possible cost at $6.669 per hour) rely on instance store volumes. They all benefit from the great performance that these ephemeral, locally-attached volumes provide.
How to Choose Amazon EBS Volume Types
Here are key considerations for selecting an Amazon EBS volume type.
Durability
All Amazon EBS volumes are designed with high durability in mind, featuring an annual failure rate (AFR) of between 0.1% and 0.2%. This high level of durability is achieved through data replication within the same Availability Zone (AZ). While durability is consistent across different EBS volume types, ensuring that your volumes are within the same AZ as your EC2 instances is crucial to maintaining data integrity and availability.
Volume size
The size of the volume is a critical factor in determining the appropriate EBS type. General Purpose SSD (gp2) and Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1) volumes offer flexibility, supporting sizes from 1 GiB to 16 TiB. Throughput Optimized HDD (st1) and Cold HDD (sc1) volumes cater to larger datasets, starting at 500 GiB and extending up to 16 TiB. The volume size not only affects storage capacity but also performance; for example, gp2 volumes provide better IOPS with larger sizes, making them ideal for scaling applications.
Maximum IOPS per volume
Input/output operations per second (IOPS) is a critical performance metric, especially for transactional and database applications. Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1) volumes offer the highest IOPS, reaching up to 64,000 IOPS per volume. This makes them suitable for high-performance databases and critical business applications.
General Purpose SSD (gp2) volumes offer up to 16,000 IOPS, balancing performance and cost for a wide range of applications. HDD volumes, such as st1 and sc1, are designed for lower IOPS requirements, providing up to 500 and 250 IOPS, respectively, and are more suited for sequential workloads.
Maximum throughput per volume
Throughput, measured in MiB/s, is essential for applications that handle large, sequential data transfers. Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1) volumes provide the highest throughput, up to 1,000 MiB/s, making them ideal for data-intensive applications.
Throughput Optimized HDD (st1) volumes offer up to 500 MiB/s, catering to applications like log processing and big data workloads. General Purpose SSD (gp2) volumes provide up to 250 MiB/s, suitable for a broad range of applications, while Cold HDD (sc1) volumes, designed for infrequent access, also offer up to 250 MiB/s.
Support for Amazon EBS Multi-Attach
Amazon EBS Multi-Attach allows multiple EC2 instances to access an EBS volume simultaneously, enhancing availability and redundancy. This feature is currently supported only by Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1) volumes.
Multi-Attach is particularly beneficial for clustered applications that require shared storage and can improve fault tolerance and reduce latency in distributed systems.
Ability to Run as Boot Volume
Not all EBS volumes can serve as boot volumes. Both General Purpose SSD (gp2) and Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1) volumes can be used as boot volumes, providing the necessary performance and reliability to start and run instances.
Throughput Optimized HDD (st1) and Cold HDD (sc1) volumes cannot be used as boot volumes. When selecting a boot volume, consider the performance requirements of your operating system and startup applications to ensure quick boot times and smooth operation.
Leveraging EBS Volumes for AWS Backup with N2W
Selecting the right Amazon EBS volume type is just one part of ensuring optimal performance and reliability for your applications. EBS volumes are designed with an annual failure rate (AFR) of between 0.1% and 0.2%. This fact underscores the necessity of having a robust backup and recovery tool. This is where N2W Backup & Recovery comes into play.
Why Choose N2W for AWS Backup?
N2W Backup & Recovery is a leading solution for cloud-native backup and disaster recovery, specifically optimized for AWS. Here are some reasons why integrating N2W with your EBS volumes can enhance your data protection strategy:
1. Automated, Reliable Backups N2W provides automated backup policies that ensure your data is regularly and securely backed up without manual intervention. With support for all EBS volume types, you can schedule backups that align with your operational needs and compliance requirements.
2. Fast and Efficient Recovery In the event of data loss or corruption, N2W enables rapid recovery of your EBS volumes. You can restore entire volumes or individual files with minimal downtime, ensuring business continuity.
3. Cost Optimization N2W offers features like incremental backups and lifecycle management, which help optimize storage costs. By only backing up changed data and automatically moving older backups to more cost-effective storage tiers, rather than keeping data in native EBS, you can save significantly on AWS storage expenses.
4. Enhanced Security and Compliance With N2W, you can perform DR backups of encrypted volumes into other regions or accounts for added security. It also support AWS GovCloud, making it ideal for government agencies and enterprises with strict regulatory needs.
5. Comprehensive Reporting and Alerts N2W provides detailed reporting and alerting capabilities, giving you visibility into your backup operations. N2W also provides a live view of all unprotected resources. You can generate reports to demonstrate compliance and receive alerts to stay informed about the status of your backups.
How to Get Started with N2W
- Install N2W Backup & Recovery: Available in AWS Marketplace, N2W can be easily deployed within your AWS environment. Choose the appropriate configuration that fits your needs and budget.
- Configure Backup Policies: Define backup schedules and retention policies that align with your business requirements. N2W supports flexible backup configurations to suit various workloads and data protection strategies.
- Monitor and Manage Backups: Use the N2W dashboard to monitor backup activities and ensure everything is running smoothly. Leverage reporting and alerting features to stay on top of your data protection status.
- Test Recovery Processes: Regularly test your recovery procedures to ensure you can quickly restore data when needed. N2W simplifies recovery testing, making it easy to verify that your backups are reliable.
Protecting your AWS environment is critical to maintaining business continuity and data integrity. With N2W Backup & Recovery, you can ensure your EBS volumes are backed up securely and that your data is always recoverable. Get started with N2W Backup & Recovery today by visiting the AWS Marketplace and experience the peace of mind that comes with knowing your data is protected by one of the leading solutions in the industry.
Related content: check out our post on aws backup vs snapshot
