Elastic Block Store

Elastic Block Store (EBS) offers persistent data storage for instances. EBS volumes can exist independently from any particular instance, providing a flexible block-level storage option. They can be attached to any instance in real-time.

Creating a volume

1. Select the EC2 service under the account you wish to create a volume for.
2. Select the EBS tab.
3. Click on the Add button bellow the volume listing.
4. Specify the size of the volume and the target availability zone. Please note that volumes can only be attached to instances in the availability zone the volume was created in.
5. Click on the OK button.

Removing a volume

1. Select the EC2 service under the account you wish to remove the volume from.
2. Select the EBS tab.
3. Click on the Remove button bellow the volume listing.

Creating a snapshot of a volume

1. Select the EC2 service under the account the volume belongs to.
2. Select the EBS tab.
3. Click on the Create Snapshot button bellow the volume listing.

EBS provides the ability to take point-in-time consistent snapshots of volumes, that are stored automatically and replicated across multiple availability zones. These snapshots can then be restored into volumes at any time.

Restoring a volume from a snapshot

1. Select the EC2 service under the account you wish to create a volume for.
2. Select the EBS tab.
3. Click on the Restore button bellow the snapshot listing.
4. Specify the size (this must be at least the size of the snapshot) of the volume and the target availability zone. If size is left 0, the size of the volume will equal to the size of the snapshot. Please note that volumes can only be attached to instances in the availability zone the volume was created in.
5. Click on the OK button.

Removing a snapshot

1. Select the EC2 service under the account you wish to remove the snapshot from.
2. Select the EBS tab.
3. Click on the Remove button bellow the snapshot listing.