Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) is a block storage system used to store persistent data. Amazon EBS is suitable for EC2 instances by providing highly available block level storage volumes. It has three types of volume, i.e. General Purpose (SSD), Provisioned IOPS (SSD), and Magnetic. These three volume types differ in performance, characteristics, and cost.

EBS Volume Types

Following are the three types.

EBS General Purpose (SSD)

This volume type is suitable for small and medium workloads like Root disk EC2 volumes, small and medium database workloads, frequently logs accessing workloads, etc. By default, SSD supports 3 IOPS (Input Output Operations per Second)/GB means 1 GB volume will give 3 IOPS, and 10 GB volume will give 30 IOPS. Its storage capacity of one volume ranges from 1 GB to 1 TB. The cost of one volume is $0.10 per GB for one month.

Provisioned IOPS (SSD)

This volume type is suitable for the most demanding I/O intensive, transactional workloads and large relational, EMR and Hadoop workloads, etc. By default, IOPS SSD supports 30 IOPS/GB means 10GB volume will give 300 IOPS. Its storage capacity of one volume ranges from 10GB to 1TB. The cost of one volume is $0.125 per GB for one month for provisioned storage and $0.10 per provisioned IOPS for one month.

EBS Magnetic Volumes

It was formerly known as standard volumes. This volume type is suitable for ideal workloads like infrequently accessing data, i.e. data backups for recovery, logs storage, etc. Its storage capacity of one volume ranges from 10GB to 1TB. The cost of one volume is $0.05 per GB for one month for provisioned storage and $0. 05 per million I/O requests.

Volumes Attached to One Instance

Each account will be limited to 20 EBS volumes. For a requirement of more than 20 EBS volumes, contact Amazon’s Support team. We can attach up to 20 volumes on a single instance and each volume ranges from 1GB to 1TB in size.

In EC2 instances, we store data in local storage which is available till the instance is running. However, when we shut down the instance, the data gets lost. Thus, when we need to save anything, it is advised to save it on Amazon EBS, as we can access and read the EBS volumes anytime, once we attach the file to an EC2 instance.

Amazon EBS Benefits

Reliable and secure storage − Each of the EBS volume will automatically respond to its Availability Zone to protect from component failure.
Secure − Amazon’s flexible access control policies allows to specify who can access which EBS volumes. Access control plus encryption offers a strong defense-in-depth security strategy for data.
Higher performance − Amazon EBS uses SSD technology to deliver data results with consistent I/O performance of application.
Easy data backup − Data backup can be saved by taking point-in-time snapshots of Amazon EBS volumes.

How to Set Up Amazon EBS?

Step 1 − Create Amazon EBS volume using the following steps.

Open the Amazon EC2 console.
Select the region in the navigation bar where the volume is to be created.
In the navigation pane, select Volumes, then select Create Volume.
Provide the required information like Volume Type list, Size, IOPS, Availability zone, etc. then click the Create button.

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The volume names can be seen in the volumes list.

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Step 2 − Store EBS Volume from a snapshot using the following steps.

Repeat the above 1 to 4 steps to create volume.
Type snapshot ID in the Snapshot ID field from which the volume is to be restored and select it from the list of suggested options.
If there is requirement for more storage, change the storage size in the Size field.
Select the Yes Create button.

Step 3 − Attach EBS Volume to an Instance using the following steps.

Open the Amazon EC2 console.
Select Volumes in the navigation pane. Choose a volume and click the Attach Volume option.

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An Attach Volume dialog box will open. Enter the name/ID of instance to attach the volume in the Instance field or select it from the list of suggestion options.
Click the Attach button.

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Connect to instance and make the volume available.

Step 4 − Detach a volume from Instance.

First, use the command /dev/sdh in cmd to unmount the device.
Open the Amazon EC2 console.
In the navigation pane, select the Volumes option.
Choose a volume and click the Detach Volumes option.

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A confirmation dialog box opens. Click the Yes, Detach button to confirm.

Amazon – Storage Gateway

AWS Storage Gateway provides integration between the on-premises IT environment and the AWS storage infrastructure. The user can store data in the AWS cloud for scalable, data security features and cost-efficient storage.

AWS Gateway offers two types of storage, i.e. volume based and tape based.

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Volume Gateways

This storage type provides cloud-backed storage volumes which can be mount as Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) devices from on-premises application servers.

Gateway-cached Volumes

AWS Storage Gateway stores all the on-premises application data in a storage volume in Amazon S3. Its storage volume ranges from 1GB to 32 TB and up to 20 volumes with a total storage of 150TB. We can attach these volumes with iSCSI devices from on-premises application servers. It is of two categories −

Cache Storage Disk

Every application requires storage volumes to store their data. This storage type is used to initially store data when it is to be written to the storage volumes in AWS. The data from the cache storage disk is waiting to be uploaded to Amazon S3 from the upload buffer. The cache storage disk keeps the most recently accessed data for low-latency access. When the application needs data, the cache storage disk is first checked before checking Amazon S3.

There are few guidelines to determine the amount of disk space to be allocated for cache storage. We should allocate at least 20% of the existing file store size as cache storage. It should be more than the upload buffer.

Upload buffer disk − This type of storage disk is used to store the data before it is uploaded to Amazon S3 over SSL connection. The storage gateway uploads the data from the upload buffer over an SSL connection to AWS.

Snapshots − Sometimes we need to back up storage volumes in Amazon S3. These backups are incremental and are known as snapshots. The snapshots are stored in Amazon S3 as Amazon EBS snapshots. Incremental backup means that a new snapshot is backing up only the data that has changed since the last snapshot. We can take snapshots either at a scheduled interval or as per the requirement.

Gateway-stored Volumes

When the Virtual Machine (VM) is activated, gateway volumes are created and mapped to the on-premises direct-attached storage disks. Hence, when the applications write/read the data from the gateway storage volumes, it reads and writes the data from the mapped on-premises disk.

A gateway-stored volume allows to store primary data locally and provides on-premises applications with low-latency access to entire datasets. We can mount them as iSCSI devices to the on-premises application servers. It ranges from 1 GB to 16 TB in size and supports up to 12 volumes per gateway with a maximum storage of 192 TB.

Gateway-Virtual Tape Library (VTL)

This storage type provides a virtual tape infrastructure that scales seamlessly with your business needs and eliminates the operational burden of provisioning, scaling, and maintaining a physical tape infrastructure. Each gateway-VTL is preconfigured with media changer and tape drives, that are available with the existing client backup applications as iSCSI devices. Tape cartridges can be added later as required to archive the data.

Few terms used in Architecture are explained below.

Virtual Tape − Virtual tape is similar to a physical tape cartridge. It is stored in the AWS cloud. We can create virtual tapes in two ways: by using AWS Storage Gateway console or by using AWS Storage Gateway API. The size of each virtual tape is from 100 GB to 2.5 TB. The size of one gateway is up to 150 TB and can have maximum 1500 tapes at a time.

Virtual Tape Library (VTL) − Each gateway-VTL comes with one VTL. VTL is similar to a physical tape library available on-premises with tape drives. The gateway first stores data locally, then asynchronously uploads it to virtual tapes of VTL.

Tape Drive − A VTL tape drive is similar to a physical tape drive that can perform I/O operations on tape. Each VTL consists of 10 tape drives that are used for backup applications as iSCSI devices.

Media Changer − A VTL media changer is similar to a robot that moves tapes around in a physical tape library’s storage slots and tape drives. Each VTL comes with one media changer that is used for backup applications as iSCSI device.

Virtual Tape Shelf (VTS) − A VTS is used to archive tapes from gateway VTL to VTS and vice-a-versa.

Archiving Tapes − When the backup software ejects a tape, the gateway moves the tape to the VTS for storage. It is used data archiving and backups.

Retrieving Tapes − Tapes archived to the VTS cannot be read directly so to read an archived tape, we need to retrieve the tape from gateway VTL either by using the AWS Storage Gateway console or by using the AWS Storage Gateway API.

So, this brings us to the end of blog. This Tecklearn ‘Amazon Elastic Block Storage(EBS) and Storage Gateway’ helps you with commonly asked questions if you are looking out for a job in AWS and Cloud Computing.

If you wish to learn AWS and build a career in Cloud Computing domain, then check out our interactive, AWS Solutions Architect Training, that comes with 24*7 support to guide you throughout your learning period. Please find the link for course details:

https://www.tecklearn.com/course/aws-solutions-architect-certification-training/

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Tecklearn’s AWS Architect Certification Training is curated by industry professionals as per the industry requirements and demands. The entire AWS training course is in line with the AWS Certified Solutions Architect exam. You will learn various aspects of AWS like Elastic Cloud Compute, Simple Storage Service, Virtual Private Cloud, Aurora database service, Load Balancing, Auto Scaling and more by working on hands-on projects and case studies. You will master AWS architectural principles and services such as IAM, VPC, EC2, EBS and elevate your career to the cloud, and beyond with this AWS solutions architect course.

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What you will Learn in this Course?

Overview of Cloud Computing and AWS

What is Cloud Computing
Definition of Cloud Computing
On Premises Vs Service Models
Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Computing
Cloud Computing Providers
Why AWS
What is AWS
AWS Benefits
AWS Services
Traditional Vs AWS Components
AWS Global Infrastructure
AWS Availability Zone
AWS Edge Locations
How to Access the AWS Services
AWS architecture
AWS Management Console
AWS offerings Listing (EC2, VPC, AMI, EBS, ELB, Backup)

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)

Overview of EC2
Elastic IP Vs Public IP
Launching of AWS EC2 instance demo
How to access EC2
EC2 Purchasing Options
Amazon Machine Images (AMI)
EC2 Storage for the Root Device
EC2 Creating AMI
EC2 Instance Types
Auto Scaling
Cost of EC2
Best Practices of EC2
EC2 Resizing
Placement Groups
Amazon Backup and various Concepts
EC2 Demo
Hands On

Networking and Monitoring Services: Amazon Virtual Public Cloud

Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and its benefits
Default and Non-Default VPC
IP Address
CIDR – Classless Inter-domain Routing
Subnet: Subnet Mask and Subnet Mask Classes
Private and Public Subnet
IPv4 v/s IPv6 – As in AWS Infrastructure
Internet Gateway and Route Tables
Security Group with VPC
Access Control List, NACL and Security Group
NAT Devices: NAT Gateway and NAT Instance
Flow Logs
VPC Peering and its working
VPN and Direct Connect
VPC Limitations
Need for Monitoring Services
AWS CloudWatch and it’s working
AWS Command Line Interface
Use Cases
Hands On

Amazon Storage Services: Elastic Block Storage

What is Storage Services
What is Elastic Block Storage (EBS)
Persistent Storage
EBC Features
EBS Benefits
EBS Types
EBS Pricing
EBS Life Cycle
EBS Snapshot
EBS General Purposed SSD
EBS Provisioned IOPS SSD
EBS Throughput Optimized HDD
EBS Cold HDD
EBS Comparison
EBS Previous Generation Volumes
EBS How Incremental Snapshots Work
EBS Deleting an Amazon EBS Snapshot
EBS Summary
Hands On

Amazon Storage Services: Simple Storage Services (S3)

What is Amazon AWS S3
Simple Storage Services (S3) Advantages
S3 Buckets, Objects, Keys and Endpoints
S3 Data Consistency Model
S3 Transfer Acceleration
S3 Storage Types
S3 Versioning
S3 Life Cycle Management
S3 Data Protection
S3 Cross-Region Replication
S3 Hosting a Static Website
Hands On

Amazon Storage Services

Amazon Glacier Storage
Amazon Storage Gateway
Amazon Snowball (Data Import /Export)
Billing with Amazon CloudWatch
Hands On

AWS Database Services: Relational Database Service (RDS)

Overview of Databases and Relational Database Service (RDS)
What is Amazon RDS
AWS RDS Components
AWS RDS: Interface
AWS RDS: Charges
AWS RDS Multi-AZ: Benefits
AWS RDS Multi-AZ: Failover Process
NoSQL Database: Amazon DynamoDB
Overview of DynamoDB
DynamoDB Benefits
Hands On

AWS Database Services Continued

Data Warehouse: Amazon Redshift
Overview of Amazon Redshift
Redshift Architecture
Amazon Redshift features
In Memory Cache: Amazon ElasticCache
Redis Vs MemCache
Amazon ElasticCache Cluster
Database Migration: AWS Database Migration Service

Load Balancing in AWS

What is Fault Tolerant System
Features of Elastic Load Balancing
What is AWS ELB (Elastic Load Balancer)
Types of Load Balancer: Classic, Application and Network
Classic Load Balancer: Features, Health Check Configuration, Cross-Zone, Connection Draining, Sticky Sessions, Access Logs, Limitation
Application Load Balancer: Features, Application Flow, Limitation
Network Load Balancer
Access Elastic Load Balancing: AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, AWS SDKs, HTTPS Query API

Amazon Route 53

What is Amazon Route 53
Domain Name Registration
Routing Internet Traffic to Resources
Automated check of the health of Resources + Data Pipeline

AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) – Control user access

Authentication (Who can use) and Authorization (Level of Access)
IAM Policies – JSON Structure
Users, Groups and their Roles
AWS IAM Features
User Sign-in to Account
Switch Role
Role to EC2 Instance
Password Policy
How to Access AWS
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Permissions and Permission Types
Policies Structure
User Based Policies
Resource Based Policies
Resource Based Permission
Policies Types
Request Flow
Limitations
IAM HTTPS API
Logging IAM Events with AWS CloudTail
Hands On

Amazon CloudWatch

What is Amazon CloudWatch
Features and Benefits
CloudWatch Architecture
Hands On

AWS Auto Scaling

What is AWS Auto Scaling
Auto Scaling Components
Auto Scaling Group
Auto Scaling Launch Configuration
Auto Scaling Benefits
Auto Scaling Lifecycle
Auto Scaling Plans
Manual Scaling
Schedule Scaling
Dynamic Scaling
Auto Scaling Step Adjustment
Auto Scaling Termination Policy
Default Termination Policy
Health Check
Hands On

Amazon Application Services

Elastic BeanStalk
Simple Email Services (SES)
Simple Queue Service (SQS)
Simple Notification Services (SNS)
AWS Lambda
Introduction to Elastic OpWorks
Hands On

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