Curriculum Overview: Identifying AWS Block Storage Solutions

This curriculum provides a comprehensive breakdown of block storage options within the AWS ecosystem, specifically focusing on Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) and EC2 Instance Store. Students will learn to distinguish between persistent and ephemeral storage and select the appropriate solution based on performance and durability requirements.

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## Prerequisites

Before starting this module, students should have a foundational understanding of the following:

• Cloud Computing Basics: Understanding the difference between physical and virtualized resources.
• Amazon EC2 Foundations: Knowledge of how to launch and manage virtual servers.
• Basic Storage Concepts: Familiarity with the terms "read/write latency," "throughput," and the concept of a "boot volume."

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## Module Breakdown

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## Module Objectives

By the end of this curriculum, learners will be able to:

1. Define Amazon EBS and explain its role as a persistent, network-attached block storage device.
2. Describe the Instance Store and its characteristics as temporary, physically attached storage.
3. Differentiate Persistence: Explain why EBS survives instance termination while Instance Store data is lost.
4. Analyze Latency/Throughput: Identify which solution provides lower latency for high-speed local processing.
5. Identify Availability Features: Understand how EBS volumes are automatically replicated within an Availability Zone (AZ).

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## Visual Anchors

Storage Architecture Logic

This diagram illustrates the architectural difference between how EBS (Network-Attached) and Instance Store (Physically Attached) connect to an EC2 instance.

Decision Tree for Block Storage

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## Comparison Matrix: EBS vs. Instance Store

[!IMPORTANT] Data on an Instance Store volume does not survive instance stop or termination. However, it does survive an OS-level reboot.

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## Success Metrics

• Scenario Proficiency: Correctly identifying the storage type for 5/5 business scenarios (e.g., choosing EBS for a production SQL database).
• Feature Recall: Ability to list the three primary benefits of EBS (persistence, replication, encryption).
• Risk Assessment: Identifying the risk of data loss associated with Instance Store and proposing a mitigation strategy (e.g., using a distributed file system).
• Cost Efficiency: Explaining the pricing difference (EBS is billed by provisioned GB/month; Instance Store is included in the instance hourly cost).

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## Real-World Application

• Relational Databases: AWS customers use EBS to run databases like MySQL or PostgreSQL because the data must be preserved even if the instance is stopped to save costs or perform maintenance.
• Content Processing: A video transcoding application might use Instance Store to hold temporary video chunks during processing because it requires high-speed throughput and the data can be recreated from a source bucket if the instance fails.

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## Implementation Examples

Example 1: The E-Commerce Database

• Problem: An online store needs to store its product catalog and customer orders.
• Solution: Amazon EBS.
• Reasoning: Orders are critical data. If the virtual server hosting the database crashes, the data must remain intact and be attachable to a new server immediately.

Example 2: The Web Server Log Buffer

• Problem: A web server generates massive amounts of temporary logs that are analyzed in real-time and then discarded.
• Solution: Instance Store.
• Reasoning: The application needs very high disk I/O to write logs without slowing down the web service. Since logs are analyzed instantly and can be lost without business impact, the high-performance local storage is ideal.

Example 3: Boot Volumes

• Problem: Selecting a volume to host the Linux Operating System for 100 web nodes.
• Solution: EBS-Backed Instances.
• Reasoning: This allows for "Stopped" states where costs are reduced, and the ability to upgrade instance types (e.g., moving from a t3.micro to a m5.large) without losing the OS configuration.