AMI vs EBS Snapshots

When you create an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) from an existing EC2 instance, it encapsulates not only the configuration settings and data stored on the instance's Elastic Block Store (EBS) volumes but also includes crucial metadata necessary to replicate the instance's environment. This metadata encompasses information such as the operating system, installed applications (like databases), and the specifics of the boot volume.

Now, let's delve into the relationship between AMIs and EBS snapshots. An AMI, as a comprehensive resource, incorporates one or more EBS snapshots. These snapshots serve as the backbone for preserving the data stored on EBS volumes associated with the instance. Essentially, an AMI is like a blueprint, encompassing both the configuration details and the data snapshots required to instantiate identical instances.

When you launch an EC2 instance from the AMI you've created, the process is designed to not only replicate the configuration specified in the AMI but also to recreate the associated EBS volumes. This means that the EBS volume, including its data, will be automatically provisioned as part of the instance launch process. In essence, creating an EC2 instance from your AMI essentially reconstitutes both the instance's configuration and its associated EBS volumes, ensuring a seamless replication of your original environment.

AMI encompasses both the configuration details and EBS snapshots of an EC2 instance and launching an instance from that AMI replicates both the instance's configuration and its associated EBS volumes, ensuring a complete replication of your original environment. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/AMIs.html

Hlo,

AMI (Amazon Machine Image): An AMI is a template that contains the necessary information to launch an EC2 instance, including the operating system, application server, and applications. It essentially captures the entire state of a virtual server, including its configuration, and can be used to launch identical instances.

EBS Snapshot (Elastic Block Store Snapshot): An EBS snapshot is a point-in-time copy of an EBS volume. It captures all the data on the volume at the time the snapshot is taken. EBS snapshots are used for backup, replication, and disaster recovery purposes.

Differences:

AMI captures the entire state of an EC2 instance, including the operating system and data volumes, whereas EBS snapshots only capture the data on an EBS volume.

AMI can be used to launch new EC2 instances with the same configuration and data as the original instance, while EBS snapshots are typically used for backup and recovery purposes.

Creating an AMI from an existing EC2 instance:

When you create an AMI from an existing EC2 instance, it includes the root volume (where the operating system is installed) and any additional EBS volumes attached to the instance.

If you have additional data volumes attached to the instance, those volumes and their data will be included in the AMI. ** Creating an EC2 instance from the AMI:**

When you launch an EC2 instance from an AMI, it will automatically create the necessary EBS volumes based on the configuration stored in the AMI. This means that if your original EC2 instance had additional EBS volumes attached, those volumes will be recreated and attached to the new instance when launched from the AMI.

AMI (Amazon Machine Image): An AMI is a template that contains a software configuration (such as an operating system, application server, and applications) required to launch an EC2 instance. It includes information about the root volume (usually an EBS volume) and any other attached EBS volumes, instance type, permissions, and other configurations.

EBS Snapshot: An EBS snapshot is a point-in-time copy of an EBS volume. It captures the entire state of the volume at the time the snapshot is taken, including all data on the volume and any configuration settings. EBS snapshots are typically used for backup, replication, and creating new volumes.

When you create an AMI from an existing EC2 instance, it captures the state of the root volume (which is usually an EBS volume) and any other attached EBS volumes at the time the AMI is created. However, the process of creating an AMI does not directly involve taking an EBS snapshot. Instead, it creates a new snapshot of the EBS volumes associated with the instance specifically for the purpose of the AMI.

When you launch an EC2 instance from an AMI, it will create new EBS volumes based on the snapshots associated with the AMI. These volumes are essentially copies of the volumes that were associated with the original EC2 instance at the time the AMI was created. So, yes, creating an EC2 instance from an AMI will automatically re-create the EBS volumes as well.

Hello.

What is the difference between AMI and EBS snapshots?

AMI is a resource that includes data in EBS volumes and management information that configures instances.
A snapshot is a resource that only contains data from an EBS volume.
Therefore, the AMI contains information about what OS, applications (databases, etc.), and what boot volume you are using.

If i take create an AMI from an existing EC2 instance, would it include the EBS snapshot?

Yes, creating an AMI also creates a snapshot.
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/AMIs.html

One or more Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) snapshots, or, for instance-store-backed AMIs, a template for the root volume of the instance (for example, an operating system, an application server, and applications).

Would creating an EC2 instance from the AMI i took automatically re-create the EBS volume as well?

Yes, an EBS volume will be created.

What is the difference between AMI and EBS snapshots?

• In simple terms, both are used as backup measures.
• EBS snapshot is a backup taken at EBS volume level and contains data residing on that volume.
• AMI is taken at instance level and it contains EBS snapshot of all EBS volumes attached to the instance plus some other configuration. You have the option to emit some of the attached volumes (except root volume) while taking an AMI.
• You can launch an instance directly from an AMI. An EBS snapshot has to be converted to an AMI first and then an instance can be launched.

If i take create an AMI from an existing EC2 instance, would it include the EBS snapshot?

• Yes, it contains EBS snapshot of all EBS volumes attached to the instance. You have the option to emit some of the attached volumes while taking an AMI.

Would creating an EC2 instance from the AMI i took automatically re-create the EBS volume as well?

• Yes, number of EBS volumes created depends on the number of EBS snapshots included in that AMI.