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Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) vs Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 17, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon EBS (Elastic Block S...
Ranking in Cloud Storage
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Amazon EFS (Elastic File Sy...
Ranking in Cloud Storage
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
File and Object Storage (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Cloud Storage category, the mindshare of Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) is 2.1%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) is 8.7%, down from 10.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Storage
 

Featured Reviews

MuhammadAzhar Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Diverse features and affordability drive effective resource management
Amazon EBS offers diverse features. It can be used for multi-purpose storage, supporting single, multiple, or heavy loads. It has different types for various use cases, allowing me to choose based on my specific requirements. The primary advantage of Amazon EBS is affordability compared to other solutions like EFS or FSX. It acts as a hard drive for servers, making it essential for operation.
MuhammadAzhar Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Auto-scaling capabilities enhance file management while reducing downtime
The most valuable feature of Amazon EFS is its auto-scaling capability. It's really easy to configure EFS by just creating it and running a command to directly configure it with my servers. It supports unlimited use, and charges are applied based on the file usage at the end of the month. The solution offers reduced downtime and increased durability through its auto-scaling features.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"One of the features I find most valuable is that EBS can be independent. You can attach and detach it from your server."
"One of the most valuable was snapshots. There were scenarios in which the whole EC2 crashed, or we were unable to use it for some time, but the data on the mounted volumes were crucial to us. So, at that time, snapshots were very helpful."
"If an instance is terminated abruptly or accidentally, I can reattach the volume to a different instance."
"The most valuable feature of Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) is its scalability."
"I find it valuable for applications requiring high throughput or IOPS and mention its stability and performance as significant factors."
"The most impressive aspects of Amazon EBS are its scalability and high availability."
"I don't need to delete or remove everything from an EBS when terminating an instance."
"EBS is a cost-effective solution, where I pay as I go, making it a favorable option."
"Elastic File Systems allow me to share data, provision, and manage capacity and performance in AWS."
"The platform is highly scalable."
"We are not that big of a cloud user. We just use it for the storage of our bytes. The most valuable aspect is the storage."
"Elastic File Systems allow me to share data, provision, and manage capacity and performance in AWS."
"Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) is secure as it is used under VPC."
"Amazon EFS offers the flexibility of scaling as needed without requiring pre-provisioned storage."
"Amazon EFS is extremely stable, as it is managed by AWS."
"The first valuable thing is it is scalable."
 

Cons

"Amazon EBS needs to improve its user interface for data transactions."
"I do not have anything in mind for improvement at the moment."
"Amazon EBS could improve by offering immutability of the data."
"There is a lack of awareness and knowledge about Amazon EBS among potential users, which results in underutilization."
"I feel that there are some concerns when it comes to the accessibility area of the product where improvements are required."
"There is room for improvement in terms of file storage. Recently, we had a scenario in which, in a file share, we had increased the IOPS capacity; this was for the production environment."
"There is a concept called Snapshot, which is a backup of the entire EBS volume, however, the cost is quite high."
"It would be better to analyze and find a way to merge both the file systems of Linux and Windows."
"It could be better in connecting with Windows Server instances."
"The platform's connectivity could be improved to be more comparable to S3 buckets, which offer better API availability."
"Around 80 percent of the features of Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) are available on Linux and not in Windows, making it a major drawback of the product."
"EFS could be improved by including a one-click setup."
"The lack of transparency in the costs attached to the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"It should be simplified. There are people who don't have cloud experience. It should be storage that we are able to just connect to."
"The user activity needs to be more connected."
"The deployment is definitely not an easy process."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is low-priced than other solutions."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high, I rate the price a seven."
"It is a cost-effective solution."
"The pricing models may be for general purposes, such as Amazon EBS Provisioned IOPS Volume or Amazon EBS Cold HDD Volumes."
"The cost can vary greatly depending on the use case, ranging from one dollar to over $1200 dollars per month."
"The solution is quite costly."
"The solution is reasonably priced."
"On a scale of one to ten, if one point is a cheap solution and ten points is very expensive, I rate the product price an eight."
"Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) offers a pay-as-you-go model, so whenever you use its services, you need to pay."
"I would rate the pricing 7 out of 10."
"The solution's price is mid-ranged."
"The product's price depends on the services and the size and capacity at which it is used in a business environment."
"The product charges are based on the amount of data stored."
"It has flexible pricing. You are charged based on your storage."
"The main challenge with EFS is its cost, which is slightly higher compared to EBS or S3. For one GB or ten GB of data, S3 is much cheaper. EFS could cost around $30 to $50 per month for similar usage."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
55%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Educational Organization
19%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Amazon's S3 Glacier or EBS (Elastic Block Store)?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether Amazon's S3 Glacier or Elastic Block Store data storage software was the better fit for us. We decided to go with Amazon's S3 Glacier, whi...
What do you like most about Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store)?
The durability and snapshot capabilities are good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store)?
The cost of Amazon EBS storage is high. I rate the price as eight out of ten. It is expensive to store a lot yet provides significant cost-efficiency as I pay only for the storage time required.
Which file storage system is better - Amazon EFS (elastic file storage) or Azure File Storage?
Amazon EFS is easy to set up: you can use the AWS management console, API, or command-line. Amazon EFS can grow to petabytes and deliver consistent low latencies and high levels of throughput. This...
What do you like most about Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)?
The product's initial setup phase is easy, as per the configurations.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)?
The main challenge with EFS is its cost, which is slightly higher compared to EBS or S3. For one GB or ten GB of data, S3 is much cheaper. EFS could cost around $30 to $50 per month for similar usage.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bazaar Voice, Crowd Strike, Adobe, Gamevil, Hess, CopperEgg, TotalJobs Group, SuperCell, Dropcam, Unilever
Arcesium, Atlassian, Seeking Alpha, Zend
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) vs. Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.