What are Instance Stores?
An Instance Store is block-level storage physically attached to the EC2 instance host computer. Data persists during reboots but is lost when the instance is stopped or terminated.
Best for: Temporary storage needs like buffers, caches, and scratch data. Not recommended for data that needs to persist.
Instance Stores Video
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Benefits of Instance Stores
- Is included free: Comes attached to many EC2 instance types at no additional cost
- Has high performance: Extremely low-latency storage directly attached to the host server
Data Lifecycle of Instance Stores
When an EC2 instance with an attached instance store is running (or reboots) the data is stored on the instance store:
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When the instance is stopped or terminated, all data on the instance store is deleted:
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