How is EBS different from Amazon S3?
Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) and Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) are both storage services offered by AWS, but they cater to different needs and have distinct characteristics.
EBS (Elastic Block Store) :
* Type: Block storage
* Use Case: Primarily for EC2 instances that require persistent storage with low latency and high performance. Ideal for databases, operating systems, and applications that need frequent data access.
* Data Access: Attached directly to EC2 instances.
* Data Format: Stores data as raw, unformatted blocks.
* Performance: Offers various volume types with different performance characteristics (e.g., General Purpose SSD, Provisioned IOPS SSD, Magnetic).
* Durability: High durability within a single Availability Zone.
* Scalability: Scalable within the limits of the EC2 instance and region.
S3 (Simple Storage Service) :
* Type: Object storage
* Use Case: For storing large volumes of unstructured data, such as backups, archives, media files, and static websites. Suitable for applications that need scalable and durable storage for infrequent access.
* Data Access: Accessed via unique URLs.
* Data Format: Stores data as objects (files or other data) with metadata.
* Performance: High durability and availability across multiple Availability Zones.
* Scalability: Highly scalable with virtually unlimited storage capacity.
