Prerequisites¶

projectx-prod-vpc has been created with subnets configured.
projectx-prod-jumpbox EC2 instance exists and is accessible.
projectx-prod-websvr EC2 instance exists (or any EC2 instance for testing).
My-Desktop-Key-Pair key pair exists.
AWS CLI configured with appropriate credentials.

Network Topology¶

Overview¶

What is Elastic Block Storage (EBS)?¶

Elastic Block Storage (EBS) is a high-performance block storage service designed for use with Amazon EC2 instances. EBS volumes are persistent, network-attached storage that can be dynamically attached and detached from EC2 instances, making them ideal for databases, file systems, and applications that require persistent storage.

Key Features of EBS¶

EBS is primarily used as a data persistence mechanism where the underlying data or volume is independent of the EC2 instance. This means you could attach and detach EBS volumes between different EC2 instances while keeping the same data.

👉 Ephemeral Lab Note: Since this is an ephemeral lab, we'll clean up all resources at the end. In production, you would typically keep snapshots for backup and disaster recovery purposes.

Create an EBS Volume¶

Navigate to EBS Volumes¶

Open the EC2 service in the AWS Console.

In the left navigation pane, scroll down to Elastic Block Store and select Volumes.

Notice how we already have a few EBS volumes created. These were created when we deployed the jumpbox and websvr EC2 instances.

Click Create volume.

Configure Volume Settings¶

Basic Configuration¶

Volume type: Select gp3 (General Purpose SSD)
👉 gp3 is the latest generation and provides a good balance of price and performance for most workloads
Size: Enter 10 GiB
👉 For this lab, 10 GiB is sufficient. In production, size based on your needs.
IOPS: Leave default (3000 for gp3)
👉 gp3 volumes come with baseline performance. You can provision additional IOPS if needed.
Throughput: Leave default (125 MiB/s for gp3)

Availability Zone¶

EBS allows you to choose between multiple Availability Zones.

Availability Zone: Select the same Availability Zone as your EC2 instance
👉 Important: EBS volumes can only be attached to instances in the same Availability Zone. Check your EC2 instance's AZ before creating the volume.

To find your instance's Availability Zone:

Go to EC2 ➔ Instances
Select your instance (e.g., projectx-prod-websvr)
Check the Availability Zone in the instance details

Encryption¶

Encryption: Select Encrypt this volume
KMS key: Use the default AWS managed key (aws/ebs)
👉 Encryption at rest is a security best practice. For production, consider using customer-managed KMS keys.

Snapshot¶

Snapshot ID: Leave empty (we're creating a new empty volume)

Create Volume¶

Click Create volume.

Wait for the volume status to change from creating to available (usually takes a few seconds).

👉 Note the Volume ID (e.g., vol-0123456789abcdef0). You'll need this for attaching and snapshot operations.

Attach EBS Volume to EC2 Instance¶

Attach Volume via Console¶

In the Volumes list, select the volume you just created.

Click Actions ➔ Attach volume.

Configure the attachment:

Instance: Select EC2 instance projectx-prod-websvr.
Device name: Use the default or specify /dev/sdf.
Volume: Your volume should be pre-selected.

Click Attach.

The volume attachment status will change to attaching and then attached.

👉 Note: The device name in the console (e.g., /dev/sdf) may appear differently in the OS. On Linux, it often appears as /dev/xvdf or /dev/nvme0n1 depending on the instance type.

Verify Volume Attachment¶

Via Console¶

Go to EC2 ➔ Instances
Select your instance
Scroll down to Storage tab
You should see your EBS volume listed

Via SSH¶

Connect to your EC2 instance through the jumpbox:

# From jumpbox, SSH to your instance
ssh -i ~/.ssh/My-Desktop-Key-Pair.pem ubuntu@<instance-private-ip>

Check for the new block device:

# List block devices
lsblk

# Or check with fdisk
sudo fdisk -l

You should see a new device (e.g., /dev/xvdf or /dev/nvme0n1 depending on instance type).

Format and Mount the EBS Volume¶

Identify the Device¶

First, identify the device name on your instance:

# List all block devices
lsblk

Look for a device without a mount point (e.g., xvdf or nvme0n1).

👉 Important: Make sure you're working with the correct device. The root volume (usually /dev/xvda or /dev/nvme0n1) should already be mounted. Don't format the root volume!

Create a File System¶

Format the volume with a file system. We'll use ext4 (standard for Linux):

# Replace /dev/xvdf with your actual device name
sudo mkfs -t ext4 /dev/xvdf

Or if using NVMe:

sudo mkfs -t ext4 /dev/nvme1n1

👉 This will format the entire volume. All existing data will be lost.

Create Mount Point¶

Create a directory to mount the volume:

sudo mkdir /mnt/projectx-data

Mount the Volume¶

Mount the formatted volume:

# Mount the volume
sudo mount /dev/xvdf /mnt/projectx-data

# Or for NVMe
sudo mount /dev/nvme1n1 /mnt/projectx-data

Verify Mount¶

Verify the volume is mounted:

# Check mount status
df -h

You should see your volume listed with the mount point.

Test the Volume¶

Create a test file to verify write access:

# Create a test file
echo "EBS Volume Test - $(date)" | sudo tee /mnt/projectx-data/test.txt

# Verify
cat /mnt/projectx-data/test.txt

Make Mount Persistent (Optional)¶

To make the volume mount automatically on reboot, add it to /etc/fstab:

# Get the UUID of the volume
sudo blkid /dev/xvdf

# Or for NVMe
sudo blkid /dev/nvme1n1

Note the UUID (e.g., UUID=12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc).

Edit /etc/fstab:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Add a line (replace UUID and mount point with your values):

UUID=12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc /mnt/projectx-data ext4 defaults,nofail 0 2

👉 The nofail option allows the system to boot even if the volume is unavailable.

Test the fstab entry:

sudo mount -a

If no errors, the configuration is correct.

Create EBS Snapshot¶

Create Snapshot via Console¶

Navigate to EC2 ➔ Volumes.

Select your EBS volume.

Click Actions ➔ Create snapshot.

Configure the snapshot: - Name: projectx-prod-ebs-snapshot-1 - Description: Snapshot before testing - $(date)

Click Create snapshot.

The snapshot will be created in the background. Status will change from pending to completed.

👉 Snapshot creation is incremental - only changed blocks since the last snapshot are saved, making subsequent snapshots faster and cheaper.

Monitor Snapshot Progress¶

Navigate to EC2 ➔ Snapshots (under Elastic Block Store)
Select your snapshot
Monitor the Progress percentage

👉 Large volumes may take several minutes to snapshot. You can continue using the volume while the snapshot is being created.

Verify Snapshot¶

Once the snapshot status is completed, verify it:

Check the snapshot details: - Size: Should match or be close to your volume size - Status: completed - Storage tier: Standard (default)

Additional Snapshot Items¶

Snapshots are incremental. Meaning if we were to add more data to the websvr instance, then create a new snapshot, the changes would be reflected in the new snapshot. We could then restore to our original snapshot if data was corrupted.

We can also transfer data from an EC2 instance in any region into another, if we needed to, for example, from us-east-2 to us-west-2.

Feel free to play around with both of these features.

Cleanup (Ephemeral Lab)¶

Since this is an ephemeral lab, clean up all resources to avoid charges.

Unmount Volumes¶

On your EC2 instance:

# Unmount volumes
sudo umount /mnt/projectx-data

# Remove mount points (optional)
sudo rmdir /mnt/projectx-data

Detach Volumes¶

Navigate to EC2 ➔ Volumes
Select each volume
Click Actions ➔ Detach volume
Confirm detachment

Wait for status to change to available.

Delete Volumes¶

Select the detached volumes
Click Actions ➔ Delete volume
Confirm deletion

👉 Warning: This permanently deletes the volume and all data. Make sure you have snapshots if you need to recover data.

Delete Snapshots¶

Navigate to EC2 ➔ Snapshots
Select all snapshots created in this lab
Click Actions ➔ Delete snapshot
Confirm deletion

👉 Note: Deleting a snapshot only removes that specific snapshot. Other snapshots remain independent.

Verify Cleanup¶

Check Volumes: Should show no volumes (or only root volumes attached to running instances)
Check Snapshots: Should show no snapshots from this lab

Success!

EBS volumes and snapshots are essential for data persistence, backup, and disaster recovery in AWS. Understanding these concepts is crucial for managing production workloads.

Note

Remember: In production environments, implement automated snapshot schedules and test your restore procedures regularly. Always encrypt volumes containing sensitive data and follow your organization's backup and retention policies.