Amazon Web Services Elastic Block Store (EBS)

Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) provides persistent block storage volumes for use with Amazon EC2 instances in the AWS Cloud. EBS volumes are automatically replicated to provide high availability and durability. EBS offers high performance and the ability to scale your usage up or down quickly while paying only for what you use.

Cost dependent on storage class, replication and other services used

Maximum individual file size:  No practical file size limit

Space allowed per individual user: No practical overall limit (costs incurred)

Space allowed per group: No practical overall limit (costs incurred)

End-user access control to the content of EBS volumes is implemented by the EC2 instance to which an EBS volume is attached. Access and management of EBS volumes themselves is controlled by AWS IAM (Identity and Access Management), which can be linked to Active Directory for authentication and authorization.

Allowed:

• Public data
• Sensitive / moderate risk data

Allowed with special configuration:

• Confidential or restricted / high risk data
• FERPA-protected data
• HIPAA-regulated data

Not allowed:

• Export-controlled regulation

High Technical Complexity: Setup and configuration typically requires central IT support.
Usage requires AWS account and familiarity with the AWS Management Console, command line interface or AWS API.