A Guide to Integrating Amazon EBS Volumes with Amazon ECS

Introduction

Amazon has introduced an integration between Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) and Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS). This integration streamlines storage management for Amazon ECS tasks on AWS Fargate and Amazon EC2, removing the need for manual storage and compute handling. This advancement paves the way for efficiently running a wider range of data processing workloads. In this blog post, we will delve into the process of integrating Amazon EBS volumes with Amazon ECS, offering a seamless solution for persistent storage.

Key Features

Expanded Workload Possibilities: By combining Amazon ECS and Amazon EBS, organizations can expand their capabilities in deploying containerized applications. This integration enables the execution of diverse workloads, including data-intensive tasks requiring storage with high transaction volumes and throughput.

Effortless Management with Fully Managed Storage Lifecycle: Amazon ECS streamlines storage management, enhancing resilience for data processing workloads and minimizing ongoing maintenance efforts. The integration ensures a seamless experience in handling updates and infrastructure changes.

Versatile Storage Options for Containerized Applications

Amazon ECS now provides diverse storage options for containerized applications:

• Default 20 GiB ephemeral storage for AWS Fargate tasks, expandable up to 200 GiB for tasks requiring more space.
• Configuration of Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) for applications with multiple tasks needing concurrent access to shared datasets, suitable for various use cases.
• Provisioning and attachment of Amazon EBS storage for high-performance, low-cost storage tailored to specific applications within a single Availability Zone.

Enhanced Scalability and Concurrent Access

Configuring Amazon EFS for Amazon ECS tasks on both Amazon EC2 and AWS Fargate benefits applications with multiple tasks needing simultaneous access to shared datasets. Ideal for scenarios like web applications and machine learning frameworks requiring scalable and shared storage capabilities.

A Guide to Integrating Amazon EBS volume with Amazon ECS task

Step 1: Creating an Amazon ECS Task

Navigate to the Task Definitions section in the Amazon ECS console and choose “Create New Task Definition.”

For the infrastructure requirements, choose the launch type and task size based on your specific needs.

In the Storage section, opt for the “Configure at deployment” option to establish an Amazon EBS volume as a new configuration type. This allows you to provision and attach a single volume per task, specifically designed for Linux file systems.

Step 2: Create an Amazon ECS cluster and deploy the Amazon ECS Task with the Amazon EBS Volume.

In the Amazon ECS console, navigate to the “Clusters” section and click the “Create Cluster” button to start creating an Amazon ECS cluster.

To deploy an Amazon ECS task, navigate to the Amazon ECS Cluster, then in the “Tasks” section, click on the “Run new Task” button.

In the volume section, you can configure additional storage for your Amazon ECS task. The volume name, type, and mount points should align with the definitions specified in your task definition. Select the Amazon EBS volume types, sizes (in GiB), IOPS (if applicable), and the desired throughput based on your requirements.

By default, when a task is terminated, Amazon ECS automatically deletes the attached volume. If you wish to retain the data in the Amazon EBS volume after the task exits, ensure that the “Delete on Termination” option is unchecked. Additionally, create an AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) role for volume management with the necessary permissions to enable Amazon ECS to make API calls on your behalf. Refer to the AWS document for details on setting up the infrastructure role and its associated policy.

After your task has commenced, navigate to the task details page to view volume information. Select the desired task and go to the “Volumes” tab to access details about the Amazon EBS volume you created.

Enhance the efficiency of Amazon EBS volume development and operations within your team. Application developers can specify storage paths in the task definition, while DevOps engineers configure actual Amazon EBS volume attributes at runtime during deployment. This flexibility enables deploying the same task definition to various environments with distinct Amazon EBS volume configurations, such as using gp3 volumes in development and io2 volumes in production.

Conclusion

By following these steps and considering best practices, you can enhance the reliability and scalability of your Amazon ECS-based applications while ensuring seamless access to persistent data.

Drop a query if you have any questions regarding Amazon EBS and we will get back to you quickly.

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