Tipos de EBS - ST1 - SC1

What are ST1 and SC1 and what are they used for?

In the vast world of Amazon EBS, two types of volumes often stand out for their specific use cases: ST1 and SC1. Both are designed to address particular cloud storage needs, promoting flexibility and cost and performance efficiencies in a variety of applications.

What is ST1?

ST1 is known for its application in specific fields such as Big Data, Data Warehouse, Log Process or Streaming. This type of volume is characterized by its large capacities, ranging from 500 GB to 16 TB. However, it is crucial to understand that it cannot be used as a BUD or ROOT of an EC2 instance, i.e. it is not possible to install an operating system on an ST1 volume.

What is SC1 for?

Unlike ST1, SC1 focuses on infrequently accessed loads. It is presented as a more economical volume option, ideal for scenarios where cost is a determining factor. With capacities ranging from 500 GB to 1 TB, SC1 is also incapable of acting as a BUD for an EC2 instance and its payment is based on provisioned capacity, promoting significant savings in situations where access is sporadic.

How to select and configure EBS volumes?

When starting an EC2 instance, a variety of storage options are presented that must be strategically matched to the user's needs. Properly analyzing the available options is essential to optimize both performance and costs.

Differences between General Purpose and Provisioned volumes?

• General Purpose (GP2): Offers a ratio of three IOPS per GB, designed to meet general storage needs with balanced performance up to 3,000 IOPS. It is a common choice for a wide range of applications.

• Provisioned IOPS (IO1): This setting allows specifying the amount of IOPS, which can reach up to 10,000 with 100 gigabytes, showing much more significant performance for applications requiring high intensity of input/output operations.

Both options, GP2 and IO1, allow the volume to be persisted independently of actions such as deleting the server, and can be encrypted using the KMS service.

How to manage additional storage?

The process of attaching new volumes is simple from the AWS console. When creating a volume, we have the possibility to select between different EBS types such as General Purpose, ST1 or SC1, adjusting parameters such as size, IOPS and availability zone.

To attach it to an instance, the "attach volume" function is used, allowing a volume to serve only one instance at a time, ensuring data stability and integrity.

Key factors in EBS volume selection

Choosing the right EBS type requires a thorough understanding of the specific needs of the application. Consider the following factors:

1. Use case: Determines which type of EBS is best suited for the intended purpose.
2. Performance: Evaluates both in terms of IOPS and throughput to meet operational demands.
3. Cost: Considers the cost associated with different levels of performance and size, aligning the chosen option with the available budget.

These elements are critical to efficiently selecting an EBS volume, optimizing not only costs, but also facilitating effective and reliable performance on Amazon Cloud.

Exploring each of these features in detail will allow you to optimally manage your cloud resources, ensuring a balance between price, performance and capacity.