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Don't just learn the cloud—BYTE it!
Byte the Cloud is your go-to, on-the-go, podcast for mastering AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud certifications and exam prep!
Chris 0:00
Welcome back, everybody to another deep dive. This time, we're going deep on Amazon EBS. As cloud engineers, you're probably using this every single day,
Kelly 0:09
every day, and we're going to get into the nuts and bolts of how EBS works, why it's so critical, and how mastering it can give you a serious edge, especially if those AWS certs are on your radar. Okay, so
Chris 0:19
let's start from the top. What exactly is Amazon, EBS? I mean, I feel like we kind of know, but, yeah,
Kelly 0:25
think of it like this. It's your virtual hard drive in the cloud. You know, like those hard drives in your servers, but this time, it's in AWS, and it provides persistent block storage volumes for your EC2 instances. That means, even if your instance goes down, your data is safe and sound. So it's like
Chris 0:41
dedicated storage, but in the cloud got it. But EC2, we use it for a lot. What are some real world examples where EBS really becomes mission critical, absolutely.
Kelly 0:49
Imagine you're running a huge database, maybe for an E commerce site. That database needs a reliable home, and that's where EBS comes in, even if your EC2 instance crashes, which can happen your data on EBS is protected, or picture a fleet of web servers, EBS can store their operating system all the website files, and even if you're scaling those servers up or down, everything stays put.
Chris 1:13
Okay, so we're talking always on reliable storage that our apps can depend on. That's starting to make a lot more sense, yeah, but I'm guessing it's not a one size fits all service, right?
Kelly 1:21
One of the best things about EBS is its flexibility. You've got different EBS volume types, each tailored for different needs and budgets. It's about choosing the right tool for the job.
Chris 1:32
I like that. So tell me more about these tools. What EBS volume types are we working with? Let's
Kelly 1:36
start with the speed demons, SSD back volumes like GP3 and IO two these are for applications that need top speed, things like high performance databases, real time analytics, or even gaming platforms, where milliseconds count. So
Chris 1:48
when speed is everything, SSD backed volumes are our go to but I bet those high performance options come at a premium. There's
Kelly 1:54
usually a trade off, yeah, but that's where choosing the right tool comes in. If cost effectiveness Trumps raw speed, we've got HDD back volumes like st one and SC one, perfect for large media libraries, backups or archives, where you need lots of storage without the high cost. Okay, so
Chris 2:12
it's a balancing act between performance and cost, just like when we're choosing our own laptops. Now, how does EBS fit into the whole AWS ecosystem. We've talked about EC2, but what other services does it work with?
Kelly 2:24
One of the great things about EBS is how smoothly it integrates with other AWS services. For example, you can easily create snapshots of your Ebs volumes. They're like point in time, copies. You store those in S3 for backup and disaster recovery. That's a huge topic for the exams, by the way. Ooh,
Chris 2:39
snapshots. That's where it gets interesting, like a safety net for our data. And speaking of exams, I know everyone listening is eager for some insider tips. What EBS questions can really trip us up on those AWS certification tests.
Kelly 2:50
EBS questions are everywhere. They love to test your understanding of the different volume types. For instance, they might give you a scenario and ask, you're building a high frequency trading platform that needs the absolute lowest latency. Which EBS volume type would you choose? Okay,
Chris 3:05
so it sounds like understanding the performance of each volume type is key. What else should we be prepared for? They will
Kelly 3:11
definitely ask about security. Think about encryption options for your volumes. They might ask, how can you protect your data at rest, using AWS, KMS,
Chris 3:21
so not just knowing what EBS is, but how to use it strategically and securely. I'm sensing a theme here.
Kelly 3:28
You got it. So let's dive into some of those exam style questions and break down the nuances of EBS. Welcome back to our EBS Deep Dive.
Chris 3:36
Still wrapping my head around all that EBS knowledge from the last part, yeah, it's amazing how complex this service is. Even though we use it almost every day, we'll
Kelly 3:43
get ready because we're about to put that knowledge to the test with some real world scenarios, the kind you might encounter on those AWS exams. Challenge
Chris 3:50
accepted, hit me with your best EBS brain teaser.
Kelly 3:53
All right. Picture this. You've got an EC2 instance running in a public subnet connected to its EBS volume. Suddenly you suspect the instance might be compromised. Well,
Chris 4:03
that's scary. Public subnets mean our instance is exposed to the internet, so security is a top priority. What's our first line of defense?
Kelly 4:11
You're already thinking like a security Pro. We need to harden that. EC2 instance. We're talking strong security groups to control incoming traffic, disable any unnecessary services and keep those security updates coming. It's like building a fortress around our data. So
Chris 4:27
we fortified our instance. But what if the attackers somehow get through and gain access?
Kelly 4:31
That's where EBS encryption steps in. By encrypting our EBS volume, we make that data unreadable to anyone without the key, like a secret code that only authorized users can crack encryption
Chris 4:41
our data's secret weapon. But what if those attackers managed to steal the encryption key game over? Not
Kelly 4:48
quite that's where AWS KMS comes in. KMS Key Management Service is like our high security vault for encryption keys. It provides a secure place to store those keys, rotate them regularly and control who has access.
Chris 4:59
So. KMS is like our encryption key bodyguard, ensuring those keys stay safe and sound. What else can we do to make our EBS volumes even more secure?
Kelly 5:08
We can follow security best practices, strong password policies, multi factor authentication and regular security audits to check for any weaknesses. It's like having a security team constantly watching our EBS volume, scanning for vulnerabilities and keeping those threats away. So
Chris 5:25
it's all about layers of protection from the instance level down to the date itself. I'm seeing the bigger picture now,
Kelly 5:30
exactly, security is a team effort. Now let's shift gears to performance. Let's say you have an application with these bursts of activity that really stress its EBS volume. How do you handle that without blowing your budget? Okay,
Chris 5:42
so we need a volume that can keep up with those spikes in activity, but it can't cost a fortune. What's the trick?
Kelly 5:49
I'd recommend the GP3 volume type. It offers a great balance between performance and cost effectiveness. With GP3, you can customize both the IOPS and throughput, so you can scale up or down as needed.
Chris 6:00
So GP3 volumes are adaptable, like the athletes of the EBS world. But how do we configure GP3 to handle those sudden performance changes?
Kelly 6:08
We'd set a baseline performance level for normal activity, and then we unleash the power of burstable performance. Burstable performance.
Chris 6:16
Now, that sounds interesting. Tell me more.
Kelly 6:19
Think of it like a hybrid car. It's fuel efficient for everyday driving, but you have that extra boost of power when you need it. With GP3, you get a burst credit bucket that fills up over time. When your application needs more power, it can tap into those credits.
Chris 6:34
So it's like having a reserve tank of performance ready to kick in when things get intense. Are there limits to how much we can burst, or how many credits we can accumulate? That's
Kelly 6:43
a crucial question, and it's something they often ask on the exams. Yes, there are limits to both the burst duration and the total credits. These limits depend on the volume size. AWS documentation has all the details, so make sure you review those when you're setting up your Ebs environment.
Chris 6:58
Okay, noted, we need to stay within those limits to avoid any surprises. What happens if our application is constantly bursting and uses up all its credits, if
Kelly 7:07
the credit bucket runs dry, performance will drop back to the baseline level, and it'll stay there until more credits are earned. If this happens frequently, it might be time to adjust your GP3 configuration, or consider a volume type with higher baseline performance, like
Chris 7:21
checking our fuel gage. If we're always running on empty, we need a bigger tank. I like that. GP3 gives us that flexibility to balance performance and cost
Kelly 7:30
absolutely now let's switch gears again. Imagine an application that needs a file system that's always available, super durable and accessible to multiple EC2 instances, even if they're in different availability zones. What would you use? Okay,
Chris 7:44
so we need a file system that can handle multiple instances accessing it at the same time, and it needs to be rock solid no matter what. This is where my brain starts to hurt.
Kelly 7:54
Don't worry. You got this. This is where Amazon Elastic File System, or EFS, comes in. It's built for high availability, durability and concurrent access.
Chris 8:02
EFS is like the ultimate file system. How does it do all that? EFS
Kelly 8:05
is all about redundancy. It stores data across multiple availability zones, so even if one zone goes down, your data is safe in another. Plus, it's designed to handle multiple EC2 instances accessing the same file system at the same time without any issues, like
Chris 8:20
a giant shared network drive that all our instances can connect to, no matter where they are, that's incredible. What else can EFS do? EFS
Kelly 8:28
is super scalable. You can increase your storage as needed with no downtime. It also offers different performance modes so you can choose the right fit. And just like EBS, it supports encryption at rest to keep your data safe.
Chris 8:38
So scalability, performance modes, encryption, EFS, does it all this reminds me that picking the right storage service is just the beginning. We also need to configure it correctly to meet our application's needs exactly.
Kelly 8:49
It's about understanding the strength of each service and fine tuning it to fit your application perfectly. Now let's go back to EBS and talk about snapshots. Say you need a backup and recovery strategy for your application's EBS, volumes, your application is generating a lot of data changes daily, and you need to be able to restore to any point within the last week. How would you design your snapshot strategy? Snapshots?
Chris 9:14
They're like our data's time machine, but if we're taking daily snapshots, that's going to create a lot of data, right? There must be a better way to manage all those snapshots.
Kelly 9:22
You're right. We don't want to be drowning in snapshots. That's where incremental snapshots come in. EVs, snapshots are smart. They only capture the data blocks that have changed since the last snapshot. It's like saving only the edits you make to a document, instead of creating a whole new copy every time incremental
Chris 9:37
snapshots are storage saving superheroes. What a brilliant way to handle backups. What else should we keep in mind for our snapshot strategy
Kelly 9:45
to ensure we can rewind to any point in the last week, we'll keep those daily snapshots for at least seven days. And for added protection, we might even take weekly or monthly snapshots and store them for longer. Think of it as having different. Of backup, like a multi layered safety net,
Chris 10:03
so daily snapshots for quick recovery, weekly or monthly for the long haul, it's like having a time capsule for our data. What happens if we need to restore data from a snapshot?
Kelly 10:13
Restoring from a snapshot is easy. With EBS, you can restore an entire volume from a snapshot or create a new volume using a snapshot as a starting point, this lets us spin up a replacement instance and get back online quickly with minimal downtime, our
Chris 10:27
data gets a second chance. All thanks to snapshots, I'm seeing how crucial a solid snapshot strategy is. It's
Kelly 10:33
essential. Snapshots are a fundamental part of any good data protection and disaster recovery plan. Now a question that often trips people up. What's the difference between Amazon EBS and Amazon S3 and when would you use one over the other?
Chris 10:47
That's a good one. Both are storage services in the cloud, so it's easy to mix them up. What's the key difference?
Kelly 10:52
Both are important, but they have different roles. Think of EBS as your high performance block storage that's directly attached to your EC2 instances. It's perfect for operating systems, databases, anything needing fast and frequent data access. So
Chris 11:05
EBS is the workhorse, connected to our instances, always ready to deliver data. What about S3 where does that fit in?
Kelly 11:12
S3 simple storage service is our object storage expert. It handles massive amounts of data, images, videos, log files, backups, you name it. S3 is incredibly scalable, durable and very cost effective, perfect when you don't need that direct block level access. So
Chris 11:28
S3 is our vast data lake holding all those valuable digital assets. To recap, if we need storage that's closely tied to our EC2 instances and handles frequent access, we go with EBS for massive scalability and cost effective storage of less frequently used data. S3 is the winner. Precisely
Kelly 11:43
choose the right tool for the job. Now, as we wrap up this part of our deep dive, a thought to ponder, what are the new trends in EBS that cloud engineers should be watching? Ooh,
Chris 11:53
I love thinking about the future. What's on the horizon for EBS? One
Kelly 11:57
trend gaining momentum is nvm based EBS volumes. Nvm stands for non volatile memory Express. It's a super high performance protocol designed for SSDs. Nvm
Chris 12:08
sounds like something out of a sci fi movie. How does this change EBS AWS
Kelly 12:12
now offers EBS volumes powered by nvm technology. This means even faster IOPS, lower latency and higher throughput than traditional SSD backed volumes. It's like giving your storage a rocket boost.
Chris 12:26
So NVMe based EBS volumes are like the Ferraris of storage, yeah, built for speed and power. What kind of applications benefit most from that kind of performance boost? If
Kelly 12:34
you're working with high performance databases, real time analytics, or any application where every millisecond matters. NVMe based EBS volumes are your new best friend. They're also great for things like real time streaming or financial applications, anything needing super consistent low latency. This
Chris 12:50
is incredible. It's exciting to see EBS constantly evolving. I'm feeling like a true EBS expert now, but I know there's always more to learn. What other adventures await us in the final part of our deep dive,
Kelly 12:59
in our final act, we'll tackle even more complex EBS scenarios, explore performance optimization techniques and dive into how EBS works with other AWS services to create powerful and resilient cloud architectures. Stay tuned.
Chris 13:14
We're back for the grand finale of our EBS extravaganza. We've covered so much ground, from volume types to security to snapshots. What's left on our EBS adventure? We've
Kelly 13:25
scaled some serious EBS peaks, but there's one more challenge, optimizing for both cost and E performance. Imagine you need a huge EBS volume, but you're also watching those pennies. The eternal
Chris 13:36
struggle. We want all the performance in the world, but we don't want our cloud bill to be a horror story. So how do we find that balance
Kelly 13:42
one strategy, mix and match those EBS volume types? Think of it like building a team of specialists, each with their unique strengths. Okay,
Chris 13:50
I'm all ears. Tell me more about this EBS, Dream Team. Let's
Kelly 13:52
say your application has different kinds of data. Some needs to be lightning fast, like frequently used files or transactional data. That's where GP3 comes in. Our performance superstar. GP
Chris 14:01
three, our speed demon, always ready to deliver what about the data that's accessed less often? For data that's
Kelly 14:07
more relaxed, like logs, archives or backups? We bring in c1 volumes. There are cost effective heroes offering tons of storage without the big price tag.
Chris 14:17
We're creating a tiered storage system. GP3 for the VIPs. SC one for the rest. This is really making me rethink how I approach EBS
Kelly 14:25
Exactly. And to take it even further, we can use data lifecycle management, move older or less used data from GP3 to sec one or archive it to S3 glacier for long term cold storage. It's like moving files to an external drive. You free up space on your main system, but keep everything accessible.
Chris 14:42
It's like spring cleaning for our data. I'm seeing how much optimization is possible just by being smart about where we put different data. You're
Kelly 14:49
getting it now remember EBS multi attach. When would we actually use it, and what are the danger zones to avoid
Chris 14:55
multi attach seemed cool, but I'm still not sure when to use it. And you mentioned. Potential pitfalls, which always makes me a bit nervous. Multi attach
Kelly 15:02
is perfect. When you have multiple EC2 instances that need to read and write to the same EBS volume simultaneously. It's like a shared workspace where everyone collaborates. Ah,
Chris 15:13
okay, so when multiple instances need to work together on the same data, multi attach is the answer. What kind of applications would benefit from this teamwork? Shared file
Kelly 15:23
storage is a classic example. Let's say you have a bunch of web servers that all need to access the same static content, like images or style sheets. Instead of duplicating that content on every server, we attach one EBS volume to all of them using multi attach like giving everyone access to the same library, instead of each person having their own copy of every book.
Chris 15:44
That's a perfect analogy. Simplifies everything and saves so much storage. What other use cases are there for multi attach?
Kelly 15:50
It's also great for distributed caching or data processing, where multiple instances need to work together on the same data. All about collaboration and efficiency across your EC2 fleet. So multi
Chris 16:01
attach is a powerful tool for teamwork in the cloud, but you mentioned those potential pitfalls. What should we be careful about when using multi attach? The
Kelly 16:09
biggest risk data corruption, if multiple instances try to write to the same data block at the same time without proper coordination, it's a recipe for disaster. Imagine two chefs trying to add ingredients to the same pot at the same time without talking. Things would get messy.
Chris 16:27
That's hilarious and also terrifying. How do we avoid creating a data soup with multi attach
Kelly 16:33
make sure your application can handle concurrent rights. Implement things like locking or synchronization mechanisms to make sure everyone's accessing the data safely and in an orderly way.
Chris 16:43
Data Coordination key to avoiding a culinary catastrophe or some EBS. Volume types better for multi attach, yes.
Kelly 16:49
AWS recommends IO one or IO two volumes for multi attach, because they're designed for this shared access. And remember those performance metrics we talked about, make sure your volume can handle the combined IOPS and throughput needs of all those instances. Okay,
Chris 17:04
so multi attach is powerful, but needs careful planning. We need the right volume type, the right configuration, and our application has to handle concurrent access safely. It's like building a high performance race car. Everything has to work perfectly together
Kelly 17:17
exactly. Now let's think outside the box. You have an application running on EC2 using an EBS volume. You need a copy of that volume for testing, but you can't touch production. How do you do it? We need
Chris 17:30
to clone the EBS volume without messing with the original. This sounds like a job for snapshots. You
Kelly 17:35
got it. Snapshots are the perfect tool here take a snapshot of the production EBS volume, capturing all the data, then use that snapshot to create a brand new EBS volume that's a replica of the original,
Chris 17:48
like taking a picture of the production volume and developing it into a whole new volume. Does the new one have the same data and settings? Yes,
Kelly 17:54
it's a clone. At the time the snapshot was taken, attach this new volume to a different instance for testing without affecting the live environment. Snapshots,
Chris 18:02
they're like a cloning machine for our data. Any limitations or things to watch out for, the new
Kelly 18:07
volume inherits the performance of the original. If the original was a GP2, the new one will also be a GP2 with the same limits, so
Chris 18:14
it gets its performance DNA from its parent. Makes sense. Anything else about snapshots we need to keep in mind snapshots
Kelly 18:21
take up storage even though they're incremental. Clean up your snapshot library by deleting old ones, you'll avoid storage over charges. Snapshot
Chris 18:29
management, keeping our data library organized and efficient. Okay, ready for the final boss of our EBS Deep Dive. Let's
Kelly 18:37
do it. Let's put it all together. You have a mission critical application that needs high availability, rock solid durability and the ability to handle occasional performance spikes without breaking a sweat. How do you design your Ebs architecture?
Chris 18:50
This is the ultimate test. We need an EBS fortress that's bulletproof, always on and lightning fast. Where do we even begin for
Kelly 18:58
high availability? We start with multIAZ deployment. Spread our application across multiple availability zones. So if one zone goes down, our application keeps running in another zone seamlessly,
Chris 19:08
multIAZ deployment, our tried and true strategy for building a resilient application that can handle outages. What about data durability? For that,
Kelly 19:15
we have two secret weapons, encryption and snapshots. We'll enable EBS encryption and protect data at rest and implement a solid snapshot strategy take regular snapshots and store them in a different region for geographic redundancy, so even if a whole region goes down, we have a backup
Chris 19:32
encryption and cross region snapshots. Our data is now Fort Knox. What about those performance spikes? How do we make sure our application stays responsive under pressure.
Kelly 19:42
This is where our EBS volume type knowledge comes in. For data that needs consistent high performance, we'll use IR two volumes or speedsters. And for less critical data, we can use GP3 with burstable performance, cost effective performance, with the ability to handle those occasional bursts.
Chris 19:57
We're building a hybrid storage environment, Optum. For both performance and cost. Any final tips for a rock solid EBS architecture,
Kelly 20:04
don't forget monitoring. Keep a close eye on your Ebs performance using CloudWatch. Look for bottlenecks or performance issues, and don't be afraid to revisit and optimize your Ebs configurations as your application evolves. Monitoring
Chris 20:16
and optimization the ongoing care plan for a healthy and high performing EBS ecosystem. I'm feeling so much more confident about EBS now. What's the key takeaway you want our listeners to walk away with
Kelly 20:29
EBS is so much more than just storage. It's the foundation for building resilient, scalable, high performance applications in the cloud. Understanding the ins and outs of EBS opens up a world of possibilities.
Chris 20:40
Perfectly said, EBS is the bedrock upon which we build our cloud empires. Thanks for joining us on this incredible EBS journey until next time, keep learning, keep building and keep pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the cloud.