Day 17: Amazon Machine Images (AMI)💽, EC2 Instance Store🗳, and EBS Volumes🗄

Introduction

In this blog post, we will explore the fundamentals of Amazon Machine Images (AMI), EC2 Instance Store, EBS Volume types, EBS Multi-Attach, and EBS Encryption.

Amazon Machine Images (AMI)💽

💠What is an AMI?

An Amazon Machine Image (AMI) provides the information required to launch an instance. It serves as a template for your instances, which includes the operating system, application server, and applications. You can launch multiple instances from a single AMI, and you can use different AMIs to launch instances when you need instances with different configurations.

💠Components of an AMI

• Root Volume Template: This includes an operating system, an application server, and applications.

• Launch Permissions: Control which AWS accounts can use the AMI to launch instances.

• Block Device Mapping: Specifies the volumes to attach to the instance when it is launched.

💠Creating an AMI

1. From an Instance:

   • Open the Amazon EC2 console.

   • Select the instance.

   • Choose "Actions" > "Create Image".

   • Provide the necessary details and click "Create Image".

2. From a Snapshot:

   • Open the Amazon EC2 console.

   • Select the snapshot.

   • Choose "Actions" > "Create Image".

   • Configure the image and click "Create Image".

EC2 Instance Store🗳

💠What is an Instance Store?

Instance Store provides temporary block-level storage for your instances. This storage is located on disks that are physically attached to the host computer. Instance Store is ideal for temporary storage of information that changes frequently, such as buffers, caches, scratch data, and other temporary content.

💠Characteristics of Instance Store

• Temporary Storage: Data is lost when the instance is stopped or terminated.

• High Performance: Offers high I/O performance.

• Ephemeral: Data is not persistent across instance stops or terminations.

💠Use Cases

• Caches: For applications that need fast temporary storage.

• Buffers and Logs: For transient data processing.

EBS Volume Types🗄

💠Overview of EBS Volume Types

Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) offers several volume types, each designed for different use cases. EBS volumes are durable, block-level storage devices that can be attached to EC2 instances.

💠EBS Volume Types

• General Purpose SSD (gp2/gp3): Provides a balance of price and performance. Ideal for a wide variety of workloads, including boot volumes, small to medium-sized databases, and development environments.

• Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1/io2): Designed for I/O-intensive applications such as large databases. Provides consistent performance with low latency.

• Throughput Optimized HDD (st1): Low-cost HDD designed for frequently accessed, throughput-intensive workloads. Suitable for big data, data warehouses, and log processing.

• Cold HDD (sc1): Lowest cost HDD designed for less frequently accessed workloads. Ideal for infrequently accessed data.

EBS Multi-Attach🖇

💠What is EBS Multi-Attach?

EBS Multi-Attach allows you to attach a single Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1/io2) volume to multiple EC2 instances within the same Availability Zone. This feature is useful for applications that require high availability and need to share data across instances.

💠Benefits of EBS Multi-Attach

• High Availability: Ensures that your application remains available even if one instance fails.

• Shared Data: Multiple instances can access the same data concurrently.

• Increased Performance: Distribute I/O load across multiple instances.

💠Use Cases

• Clustered Databases: Databases that require shared access to data.

• Big Data Analytics: Workloads that need to process large datasets concurrently.

EBS Encryption🛡

💠What is EBS Encryption?

EBS Encryption offers seamless encryption of EBS volumes and snapshots to protect your data. Encryption is handled transparently to the user, with no impact on performance.

💠Benefits of EBS Encryption

• Data Protection: Protects data at rest and in transit.

• Integrated with AWS KMS: Uses AWS Key Management Service (KMS) to manage encryption keys.

• Easy to Use: Encryption can be enabled with a single checkbox when creating a volume.

💠Enabling EBS Encryption

1. Create an Encrypted Volume:

   • Open the Amazon EC2 console.

   • Choose "Volumes" and then "Create Volume".

   • Select the "Encrypt this volume" option and configure the volume settings.

   • Click "Create Volume".

2. Encrypting an Existing Volume:

   • Create a snapshot of the existing volume.

   • Create a new volume from the snapshot and select the "Encrypt this volume" option.

💠Best Practices for EBS Encryption

• Enable Encryption by Default: Configure your account to create encrypted EBS volumes by default.

• Use Customer Managed Keys (CMKs): For greater control over your encryption keys, use CMKs from AWS KMS.

• Regular Audits: Periodically review your encryption settings and policies.

Conclusion💡

Amazon Machine Images (AMI)💽, EC2 Instance Store🗳, and EBS volumes🗄 are fundamental components of AWS EC2, offering flexibility and performance for various use cases. EBS Multi-Attach🖇 and EBS Encryption🛡 further enhance the capabilities of EBS, providing high availability and robust security. Understanding these features and best practices will help you effectively manage and optimize your AWS infrastructure.