Block Storage provides two different performance tiers, for different workloads and use cases for Block Storage volumes.
The two tiers are:
High Performance, using NVMe backed storage; and
Standard Performance, using HDD backed storage
High Performance volumes are strongly recommended for most use cases, particularly operating system disks. Standard Performance, based on HDD, is recommended only for bulk storage where capacity and price are more important than performance.
In all cases, the performance specified is the maximum burstable level, and not a guaranteed minimum level of performance.
Note
Once a volume has been created with a specific type, it cannot be changed after the fact. Please follow the process outlined in Migrating Volumes to migrate between different volume types.
The High Performance tier makes sole use of direct NVMe SSD drives to back your block storage volume, distributed for performance and redundancy. It offers low consistent latency and high throughput with three options for IOPS limits.
Volume type |
Disk |
Replication |
Peak IOPS [1] |
|---|---|---|---|
b1.sr-r3-nvme-1000 |
NVMe |
Single-site |
1000 |
b1.sr-r3-nvme-2500 |
NVMe |
Single-site |
2500 |
b1.sr-r3-nvme-5000 |
NVMe |
Single-site |
5000 |
[1] Please note that the IOPS described on the table above are not guaranteed or provisioned IOPS, but rather the burst limit (ceiling) that each volume can reach from time to time.
Standard Performance block storage volumes are backed by classical HDD magnetic disks, offering large capacity but with low performance expectations that vary considerably based on workload and activity.
Note
We do not recommend operating system disks use Standard Performance disks, as the low level of performance can interfere with OS operations. Always use High Performance disks for any OS disks.
These disks are well suited to bulk storage needs, such as archival data that must be online, file storage for shared network filesystems, and other low-demand use cases.
Volume type |
Disk |
Replication |
Peak IOPS [1] |
|---|---|---|---|
b1.standard |
HDD |
Single-site |
500 |
b1.sr-r2-hdd-100 |
HDD |
Single-site, Reduced Reliability [2] |
100 |
b1.sr-r3-hdd-250 |
HDD |
Single-site |
250 |
b1.sr-r3-hdd-500 |
HDD |
Single-site |
500 |
[1] Please note that the IOPS described on the table above are not guaranteed or provisioned IOPS, but rather the burst limit (ceiling) that each volume can reach from time to time.
[2] The storage type b1.sr-r2-hdd-100 has reduced reliability and is not recommended for production use. It is designed for development, test and ephemeral workloads.