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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Choose the storage service by the interface your application needs. Use Amazon S3 when the application stores and retrieves whole objects in buckets through the S3 API. Use Amazon EBS when an EC2 instance needs a persistent block volume, much like a physical disk. Use Amazon EFS when several clients need to mount the same file system over NFS. Price, performance and durability then depend on the specific class, volume family or configuration you pick, so those details come after the interface decision.
How the three services differ at the interface level
AWS describes the right choice in terms of data type (block, file or object), access pattern (random or sequential), required throughput, access frequency (online, offline or archival), update frequency, and availability and durability constraints. Those factors matter, but the interface is the first filter, because it determines what your code can do with the data at all.
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Amazon S3: object storage in buckets
S3 stores data as objects inside buckets. Applications read and write objects with S3 operations and APIs rather than mounting a disk. AWS lists typical uses as data lakes, static websites, mobile application back ends, backup and restore, archives, enterprise applications, IoT data and analytics.
S3 is not one product with one price or latency profile. It offers storage classes designed for different access patterns, so the class you select, not the word “S3,” determines cost and retrieval behavior. Some archival tiers need an asynchronous restore before an object can be read.
Amazon EBS: block volumes attached to EC2
EBS provides block volumes that attach to EC2 instances. The operating system sees them as disks, formats them and places a file system on top. Typical uses include boot volumes, transactional databases, interactive applications and development or test environments.
A volume belongs to the instance it is attached to. Sharing is restricted: Multi-Attach exists only for specific supported volume types and compatible configurations, and it is not a general way to share a disk across a fleet.
Amazon EFS: shared file storage over NFS
EFS is a managed file system that clients reach over NFS. The EFS documentation lists NFSv4.0 and NFSv4.1 support, and several AWS compute services can mount the same file system. Typical uses include shared application files, content repositories, development environments, media stores and home directories.
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Check client compatibility before you design around EFS. The current EFS overview states that Windows EC2 use is not supported, so Windows-based fleets that need shared storage should be evaluated against that limit before any other design choice.
Side-by-side comparison
| Axis | Amazon S3 | Amazon EBS | Amazon EFS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storage interface | Objects in buckets, accessed through S3 operations and APIs | Block volumes attached to EC2 instances | Shared file system accessed over NFS |
| Typical starting use cases | Web and mobile objects, backups, archives, data lakes, analytics | EC2 boot volumes, transactional databases, interactive apps, development and test | Shared application files, content repositories, development environments, media stores, home directories |
| Performance levers | Storage class selected by access frequency and latency needs; some archival tiers require an asynchronous restore | Volume type and provisioned IOPS or throughput; instance limits also apply | Performance mode and throughput mode; General Purpose suits latency-sensitive work, and Elastic throughput scales with activity |
| Sharing model | Many clients can access objects, subject to identity, bucket and network policy | One instance per volume; Multi-Attach only for supported types and configurations | Shared mounted file system for multiple compute clients |
| Resilience choice | Storage class and replication settings affect resilience; the classes are not equivalent | Durability differs by volume family; backups use snapshots or an equivalent backup design | Regional spans multiple Availability Zones; One Zone keeps data in a single AZ |
A decision sequence you can follow
- Does the application need a shared directory tree and standard file operations across several clients? If yes, evaluate EFS first, after confirming your client operating system is supported.
- Does a single EC2 instance need a persistent disk for an operating system or a database? If yes, use EBS and choose the volume family from your IOPS and latency profile, or from your throughput profile for large sequential work.
- Is the data naturally addressed as whole objects, consumed by web or analytics clients, backed up or archived? If yes, use S3 and then choose the storage class from access frequency, retrieval expectations, resilience needs and minimum storage commitments.
- Does one workload contain more than one of these patterns? Use a purpose-built service for each data path. AWS recommends purpose-built storage and names several workload variables that can point to different services for different data.
Performance and configuration choices
S3 storage classes
Match the class to how often objects are read. Frequently accessed data belongs in a class designed for that pattern; rarely accessed data can move to infrequent-access or archive tiers. Moving data to a colder tier is a cost decision as well as a latency decision, so check retrieval times before you migrate anything that applications read interactively.
EBS volume families
SSD-backed volume families are intended for transactional and low-latency work, such as databases that issue many small random reads and writes. HDD-backed families are intended for large, streaming and throughput-oriented workloads. The instance type also sets limits on the performance a volume can actually deliver, so an oversized volume attached to a small instance will not reach its rated figures. Confirm the instance can deliver the performance you provision.
EFS performance and throughput modes
EFS lets you choose a performance mode and a throughput mode. General Purpose performance mode is designed for latency-sensitive workloads. Elastic throughput adjusts capacity to the workload’s activity, which suits spiky access patterns. Choose these settings when you create the file system, then measure against your own I/O profile rather than assuming the defaults fit.
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Why a per-GB price comparison misleads
A simple price per gigabyte per month does not show what a workload will cost. The total depends on Region, data volume, read and write counts, request charges, retrieval charges, provisioned IOPS or throughput, and the resilience configuration you choose.
- S3 Standard-IA and One Zone-IA: the current AWS class guidance sets a 30-day minimum storage duration and a 128 KB minimum billable object size. Standard-IA also charges retrieval fees. Objects deleted or moved before 30 days still incur the 30-day charge, and small objects are billed as 128 KB.
- EBS: provisioned performance is billed whether or not the workload uses it, so right-sizing IOPS and throughput affects cost as much as volume size does.
- EFS: throughput and performance settings can change the bill separately from the amount of data stored.
Estimate the real workload in the AWS Pricing Calculator for your Region and check the current pricing pages before you publish any figure.
Rank #4
Durability and availability: what the published figures cover
AWS publishes design targets for durability and availability. They are service-specific, and they do not mean the same thing in each service. Keep durability and availability separate, and always state the service class or volume family and the geographic scope with any figure.
- S3: AWS states a durability design of 99.999999999% (11 nines), as shown in the AWS Well-Architected Framework data management guidance (2025 framework version). This is a design target for stored objects. It is not an uptime commitment, and it does not remove the need for backup or recovery planning.
- EBS gp3: the EBS volume type documentation gives a designed durability of 99.8% to 99.9%. For gp2 it gives 99.999%. Those are volume-family figures, so quote the family that matches your deployment.
- EFS Regional Standard: AWS documents a durability design of 99.999999999% and a 99.99% availability target for Regional Standard file systems. These figures apply to that configuration. Other EFS configurations, including One Zone, should be checked against the current feature documentation, because the figures above do not automatically carry over.
The practical difference between EFS Regional and One Zone is scope. Regional file systems span multiple Availability Zones in a Region. One Zone file systems keep data in one AZ, so losing that AZ affects the data.
Security and recovery defaults
S3 buckets and objects are private by default. AWS recommends keeping Block Public Access turned on unless a specific use case requires public access. Versioning, Object Lock, lifecycle rules and replication address recovery, retention, cost management and distribution requirements, but each one needs deliberate configuration; none of them is enabled as a complete protection plan by default.
Best Value
For EBS, durability design is not a substitute for backups. Use snapshots, or another backup design, for data you cannot lose. For EFS, plan backups and recovery for the file system itself as part of the design.
Using more than one service in one architecture
Most real systems combine services. A common pattern is EBS for each instance’s operating system and database files, EFS for files that several instances must read and write, and S3 for backups, static assets and long-term data. Assign each data path to the service that matches its interface and access pattern, and avoid forcing one service to act like another.
Sources
- AWS Well-Architected Framework, Data management guidance (2025 framework version), for the storage selection factors and the S3 durability design figure.
- AWS documentation for Amazon S3, including the overview and storage class guidance, reviewed in October 2026.
- AWS documentation for Amazon EBS volume types, reviewed in October 2026, for volume families and durability figures.
- AWS documentation for Amazon EFS, including the overview and feature pages, reviewed in October 2026, for NFS support, performance modes and durability and availability figures.
Pricing, Region availability and feature limits change over time. Confirm current values in the AWS documentation and pricing pages before you rely on them for a production design.
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