3.2 Block and file storage
You can attach the right kind of disk and know what happens when the machine dies.
Before:02. ComputeUnlocks:04. Networking in the Cloud08. Observability & Reliability
The same thing, three names
One idea, sold under a different brand by each provider. Learn it once and you can read any job advertisement.
- On AWS
- EBS / EFS
- On Azure
- Managed Disks / Azure Files
- On Google Cloud
- Persistent Disk / Filestore
A virtual machine needs a disk, and this topic covers the kinds: block volumes with their IOPS and throughput classes, ephemeral disks that vanish with the machine, and shared file systems for the cases that genuinely need one. It sits between object storage and databases because choosing among the three families is the recurring decision. The confusion that costs data is ephemeral versus persistent — knowing which kind is under a machine before it dies, not after, is the whole lesson.
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Block volumes, IOPS, throughput and volume types
A block volume behaves like a disk attached to one machine, and its performance is described by operations per second and throughput, which are sold separately. Choosing a volume type is choosing between those two.
Ephemeral vs persistent disks
Some disks vanish when the machine stops and some survive it, and the difference is invisible until the day a machine is replaced. Knowing which kind you have is the whole item.
Shared file systems and when you need one
A shared file system lets several machines read and write the same files, which a block volume cannot do. It is the right answer less often than people reach for it, and this item is about the cases where it genuinely is.
Snapshots, restores and how long a restore really takes
A snapshot is quick to take and a restore is not, and the restore time is the number that matters during an incident. Measuring it once beforehand is the difference between a plan and a hope.
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