EBS Snapshots vs EBS Volumes
An EBS Snapshot is nothing more than a backup of an EBS Volume. It can’t be attached to an instance, the user can’t read any data from it, and it’s not possible to utilize it for anything but creating other EBS Snapshots or EBS Volumes. Therefore, the key step in this equation is creating an EBS Volume from an EBS Snapshot. This is what we’re going to cover in this tutorial.
Prerequisites
To follow along with this tutorial, you will need:
- A basic knowledge of EBS Volumes.
- A basic knowledge of EBS Snapshots.
Creating a Copy of an EBS Snapshot Into a Different Availability Zone
Step 1 - Select an EBS Snapshot & Create Volume
1.1 - From the EC2 Dashboard, click on “Snapshots.”
1.2 - From the list of EBS Snapshots, choose the desired snapshot, click on “✔️.”
1.3 - From the top menu, click on “Actions.”
1.4 - From the drop-down menu, click on “Copy snapshot.”
You will be brought to a new page to confirm the parameters of the new volume.
Step 2 - Confirm EBS Volume Parameters & Confirm Deployment
Note that during the volume creation process you’ll encounter the same parameters we’ve covered in the main EBS - Elastic Block Store tutorial. If you’re uncertain about any of them, make sure to refer to that page.
2.1 - From the Settings, confirm the “Snapshot ID.”
2.2 - From the Settings, select the “Volume type.”
2.3 - From the Settings, input the “Size.”
2.4 - From the Settings, select the “IOPS.”
Note: depending on the “Volume type,” this option may not be available, as shown in the example.
2.5 - From the Settings, select the “Availability Zone.”
2.6 - From the Settings, click on “Create Volume.”
You’ll receive a confirmation that a volume has been created. If you navigate to the EBS > Volumes tab, you’ll notice that you now have a volume that is tagged with the ID of the snapshot we’ve just utilized.
Conclusion on Creating an EBS Volume from an EBS Snapshot
The snapshot can’t be utilized by any application or service. To attach the data / storage to an EC2 instance, it must be in the form of an EBS Volume. In this tutorial, we’ve taken a snapshot and walked through the steps of creating an EBS Volume from it. Here’s the final result:
