Are There Different Types of Storage?
Think about your own computer. You have a hard drive built in, maybe a shared folder on a company network, and a USB stick you plug in and out. They are all storage, but each serves a different purpose.
AWS works the same way. There is storage attached to a single server, storage shared across many servers, and temporary storage that disappears when the server shuts down. Choosing the right type for the right job is what matters.
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Three Storage Types Using Analogies
Amazon EBS = an external USB drive plugged into your laptop. Only one computer can use it at a time. Turn the laptop off and back on, and the files are still there. Amazon EFS = a shared office folder on a network drive. Multiple computers can access the same folder at the same time. Capacity expands and shrinks automatically. EC2 Instance Store = like RAM in a computer. Extremely fast, but the moment you turn the machine off, everything is gone permanently.
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Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store)
Block storage that attaches to an EC2 instance, acting like the hard drive inside a computer.
Key characteristics.
Lives within a single Availability Zone. Can only connect to EC2 instances in the same AZ. Data persists even if the EC2 instance is stopped or restarted. Snapshots let you create backups and copy data to other AZs or regions. Choose between SSD types (high speed) or HDD types (high capacity, lower cost).
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EC2 Instance Store
Temporary storage physically attached to the EC2 host server.
If the instance is stopped or terminated, all data is instantly and permanently gone. Only use it for data you can afford to lose — cached files, temporary processing data, or session data that can be regenerated.
The advantage is that it is extremely fast.
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Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)
A shared file system that multiple EC2 instances can access at the same time.
Key characteristics.
EC2 instances across multiple AZs can all read and write to the same file system simultaneously. Capacity scales up and down automatically with no pre-provisioning required. Designed for Linux-based systems using the NFS protocol. For Windows environments, use Amazon FSx for Windows File Server instead.
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Amazon FSx
Managed file systems optimized for specific environments.
FSx for Windows File Server: Shares files using the SMB protocol for Windows server environments. Ideal when your company runs Windows servers. FSx for Lustre: Used for high-performance computing like scientific simulations, machine learning training, or big data workloads that demand extreme speed.
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Storage Type Comparison
| Type | Service | Access Method | Primary Use | |------|---------|--------------|------------| | Object storage | S3 | Internet (HTTP) | File storage, backups, static websites | | Block storage | EBS | Single EC2 attached | OS disk, databases | | File storage | EFS / FSx | Shared by multiple EC2s | Shared file systems |
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AWS Backup
A centralized service that manages backups for EBS, EFS, RDS, DynamoDB, and more. Instead of configuring backup separately for each service, AWS Backup lets you manage everything in one place.
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Exam Quick Reference
"Disk attached to EC2, single AZ" — EBS "Multiple EC2s access the same file system simultaneously" — EFS "Data disappears when the instance stops" — Instance Store "Windows environment shared file system" — FSx for Windows File Server "High-performance computing file system" — FSx for Lustre "Unlimited internet storage" — S3 "How to back up an EBS volume" — EBS Snapshots Object (S3) vs Block (EBS) vs File (EFS) differences appear very frequently on the exam. Storage Gateway connects on-premises servers to AWS storage.