EBS vs Instance Store

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 

AWS EC2 Instance types

Creating Instances 

Option to request a spot instance and specify the maximum bid price Choose whether to auto-assign a public IP - default is to use the subnet setting Can add an instance to a placement group Instances can be assigned to IAM roles which configures them with credentials to access AWS resources Termination protection can be enabled and prevents you from terminating an instance Basic monitoring is enabled by default (5-minute periods), detailed monitoring can be enabled (1-minute periods, chargeable) Can define shared or dedicated tenancy T2 unlimited allows applications to burst past CPU performance baselines as required (chargeable) Can add a script to run on start-up (user data) Can join to a directory (Windows instances only) There is an option to enable an Elastic GPU (Windows instances only) Storage options include adding additional volumes and choosing the volume type Non-root volumes can be encrypted Root volumes can be encrypted if the instance is launched from an encrypted AMI There is an option to create tags (or can be done later) 

You can select an existing security group or create a new one You must create or use an existing key pair - this is required An Amazon Machine Image (AMI) provides the information required to launch an instance An AMI includes the following: A template for the root volume for the instance (for example, an operating system, an application server, and applications) Launch permissions that control which AWS accounts can use the AMI to launch instances A block device mapping that specifies the volumes to attach to the instance when it's launched AMIs are regional. You can only launch an AMI from the region in which it is stored. However, you can copy AMI's to other regions using the console, command line, or the API