Explain the limitations and considerations of using EBS Direct APIs and when this feature is beneficial.
EBS Direct APIs have limitations and considerations that impact their usage. First, they are only available in specific AWS regions, restricting geographical access. Second, the API request rate is limited to 500 requests per second (RPS) per account, which may affect high-traffic applications. Third, EBS Direct APIs support a maximum snapshot size of 64 TiB, limiting data storage capacity.
Despite these limitations, EBS Direct APIs offer benefits in certain scenarios. They enable direct access to EBS snapshots without needing to create an EBS volume, reducing time and resource consumption. This feature is beneficial for backup management, disaster recovery, and data analysis tasks. Additionally, it allows third-party providers to integrate with EBS more efficiently, offering value-added services like monitoring and automation.