EBS-backed means
the root volume is an EBS volume and storage is persistent Instance
store-backed means the root volume is an instance store volume and storage
is not persistent
On an EBS-backed
instance, the default action is for the root EBS volume to be deleted upon
termination
Instance store
volumes are sometimes called Ephemeral storage (non-persistent)
Instance store
backed instances cannot be stopped.
If the underlying
host fails the data will be lost Instance store volume root devices are
created from AMI templates stored on S3 EBS backed instances can be
stopped. You will not lose the data on this instance if it is
stopped (persistent) EBS volumes can be detached and reattached
to other EC2 instances EBS volume root devices are launched from
AMI's that are backed by EBS snapshots
Instance store
volumes cannot be detached/reattached
When rebooting the
instances for both types data will not be lost
By default, both
root volumes will be deleted on termination unless you configured
otherwise