Amazon EBS vs Amazon EFS: What are the differences?

<Amazon EBS vs Amazon EFS>

1. **Performance**: Amazon EBS provides low-latency performance and is suitable for applications that require low-latency access to data. On the other hand, Amazon EFS is designed for scalable performance and can handle high throughput for big data applications.

2. **Use Case**: Amazon EBS is ideal for applications that require high IOPS and low latency, such as databases and transactional workloads. Amazon EFS, on the other hand, is best suited for applications that require shared access to files, such as content management systems and web servers.

3. **Accessibility**: Amazon EBS volumes are accessible from a single EC2 instance, making them suitable for storing data specific to that instance. Amazon EFS, on the other hand, can be accessed by multiple EC2 instances simultaneously, allowing for shared access to files across multiple instances.

4. **Elasticity**: Amazon EBS volumes have fixed sizes and can be resized if needed, but the process involves downtime. In contrast, Amazon EFS can automatically grow and shrink in size based on the amount of data stored, providing a more elastic storage solution.

5. **Consistency**: Amazon EBS provides strong consistency, ensuring that all read and write operations return the most up-to-date data. Amazon EFS, on the other hand, offers eventual consistency, which may result in slightly outdated data being read in certain situations.

6. **Cost**: Amazon EBS volumes are billed based on provisioned storage capacity, regardless of actual usage. Amazon EFS, on the other hand, is billed based on actual storage used, making it a more cost-effective option for dynamic workloads with varying storage requirements.

In Summary, Amazon EBS and Amazon EFS differ in terms of performance, use case, accessibility, elasticity, consistency, and cost, providing users with different options based on their specific requirements and workload characteristics.