Day 4 : Create an GP3 Volume
AWS EBS Volumes – Concept, Usage, and Industry Practices
1. Problem Statement
A task was assigned to create an AWS volume with a specific name, type, and size.
While the task looks simple, misunderstanding AWS volume fundamentals can lead to:
Incorrect volume type selection
Performance bottlenecks
Increased AWS costs
Failed EC2 attachments due to AZ mismatch
Poor production and audit outcomes
This document explains what an AWS volume is, how it works, why it exists, and how it is used in real enterprise environments.
2. Can an AWS Volume Be Created Independently?
Yes.
An Amazon EBS volume can be created independently without attaching it to an EC2 instance.
Key points:
EBS volumes are created at the Availability Zone level
A volume can exist unattached
Charges apply even if the volume is unused
A volume can only be attached to EC2 instances in the same AZ
Common mistake:
Creating a volume in one AZ and attempting to attach it to an EC2 in another AZ will fail.
3. Should Volumes Be Created Without a Use Case?
Technically yes.
Operationally no.
In real environments, volumes are created for:
Application data storage
Database persistence
Log storage
Migration activities
Disaster recovery via snapshots
Automation pipelines
Creating volumes without purpose leads to:
Wasted cost
Audit findings
Operational confusion
4. Types of AWS EBS Volumes You Must Know
These five are mandatory knowledge.
4.1 gp3 (General Purpose SSD)
Default and recommended
Balanced performance and cost
IOPS and throughput are configurable independently
Used for:
Application servers
Root volumes
Most workloads
4.2 gp2 (Legacy General Purpose SSD)
IOPS tied to volume size
Older generation
Still present in legacy systems
4.3 io1 / io2 (Provisioned IOPS SSD)
High and consistent IOPS
Very expensive
Used for:
Databases
Mission critical workloads
Low latency systems
4.4 st1 (Throughput Optimized HDD)
High throughput for sequential access
Cost effective
Used for:
Big data
Log processing
Streaming workloads
4.5 sc1 (Cold HDD)
Lowest cost
Lowest performance
Used for:
Archival data
Rarely accessed workloads
5. Factors to Consider When Selecting a Volume
Always evaluate in this order.
5.1 Workload Pattern
Random IO or sequential IO
Read intensive or write intensive
5.2 Performance Requirements
Required IOPS
Required throughput
Latency sensitivity
5.3 Cost Considerations
SSD vs HDD
Provisioned vs burstable performance
5.4 Durability and Recovery
Snapshot requirements
Backup frequency
Restore time objectives
5.5 Scalability
Ability to resize volume
Ability to modify IOPS without downtime
Wrong selection causes outages or cost overruns.
6. Common Interview Questions on AWS Volumes
You must be able to answer these confidently.
Difference between gp2 and gp3
Can an EBS volume be attached to multiple EC2 instances
What happens to EBS when EC2 is terminated
Difference between EBS and Instance Store
What is an EBS snapshot and where it is stored
How to migrate data between volumes
Can volume type be changed without downtime
Hesitation here indicates weak fundamentals.
7. Real Industry Tasks Involving Volumes
7.1 Daily Operations
Creating and attaching volumes
Expanding volume size
Modifying IOPS and throughput
7.2 Production Support
Restoring from snapshots
Replacing corrupted volumes
Migrating volumes during incidents
7.3 Cost Optimization
Migrating gp2 to gp3
Identifying and deleting unattached volumes
Right sizing storage
7.4 Security and Compliance
Enabling encryption
Using KMS-managed keys
Auditing volume access
7.5 Automation
Volume provisioning using Terraform or CloudFormation
Auto attachment in Auto Scaling
Snapshot lifecycle management
8. Key Takeaway
EBS volumes are not just storage units.
They directly impact performance, reliability, cost, and recovery.
Question and answers:
1. Difference between gp2 and gp3
gp2
Performance depends on volume size
Bigger volume means more IOPS
Older generation
Less cost-efficient
gp3
Performance and size are independent
You can set IOPS and throughput separately
Newer and cheaper
Better control and predictable performance
Bottom line:
gp3 is better. gp2 exists mainly for legacy systems.
2. Can an EBS volume be attached to multiple EC2 instances?
Normally: No
One EBS volume attaches to one EC2 instance
Exception: io1 and io2 support multi-attach
Multi-attach is rare and used only for special clustered apps
Industry reality:
99 percent of systems use one volume per EC2.
3. What happens to EBS when EC2 is terminated?
It depends on the volume type.
Root volume
- Deleted by default when EC2 is terminated
Additional volumes
Not deleted by default
Remain in AWS and continue to cost money
This causes hidden bills if ignored.
4. Difference between EBS and Instance Store
EBS
Persistent storage
Data survives EC2 stop or start
Can be detached and attached to another EC2
Slower than instance store but reliable
Instance Store
Temporary storage
Data lost when EC2 stops or terminates
Very fast
Used for cache or temporary processing
Rule:
Important data never goes to instance store.
5. What is an EBS snapshot and where is it stored?
A snapshot is a backup of an EBS volume
Stored in Amazon S3
Incremental by default
Used for:
Backup
Disaster recovery
Creating new volumes
Snapshots are region-specific.
6. How to migrate data between volumes?
Simple and common methods:
Attach both volumes to the same EC2
Use
rsync,cp, orddCreate a snapshot and restore it to a new volume
Detach old volume and attach new volume
This is routine work in production.
7. Can volume type be changed without downtime?
Yes, in most cases
AWS supports live volume modification
You can change:
Volume type
Size
IOPS
Throughput
But
Filesystem resize may be needed
Performance may degrade briefly
Always test in non-prod first
