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EBS Fast Snapshot Restore feature explained

#aws

1. Take EBS snapshots of the production EBS volumes

  • You create point-in-time backups of your EBS volumes.
  • Snapshots are stored in Amazon S3 (behind the scenes).
  • Command example: 
aws ec2 create-snapshot --volume-id vol-xxxxxxxx --description "Production EBS snapshot"
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2. Turn on the EBS Fast Snapshot Restore feature

  • Normally, when restoring from an EBS snapshot, the first read requires initialization, which causes a delay.
  • EBS Fast Snapshot Restore (FSR) keeps snapshots ready for instant volume creation in selected Availability Zones.
  • This greatly reduces restore time (from minutes to seconds).
  • Command example: 
aws ec2 enable-fast-snapshot-restores \
    --snapshot-ids snap-xxxxxxxx \
    --availability-zones us-east-1a us-east-1b
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⚡ Key: FSR has an additional cost, so it’s used when speed matters (e.g., testing, disaster recovery).

3. Restore the snapshots into new EBS volumes

  • You create new volumes from the snapshots with FSR enabled so they are instantly available.
  • Command example: 
aws ec2 create-volume \
    --snapshot-id snap-xxxxxxxx \
    --availability-zone us-east-1a \
    --volume-type gp3
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4. Attach the new EBS volumes to EC2 instances in the test environment

  • Attach the newly created volumes to EC2 instances so you can use them in your test environment.
  • Command example: 
aws ec2 attach-volume \
    --volume-id vol-xxxxxxxx \
    --instance-id i-xxxxxxxx \
    --device /dev/sdf
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Why this method is good

  • Safe: You’re not touching production volumes directly.
  • Fast: FSR makes snapshot restores nearly instant.
  • Scalable: You can do this for many volumes.
  • Cost-efficient for testing: Only pay for snapshots and volume usage, not for constant running storage.

Production Environment
+------------------------------------+
| EC2 Instance |
| +------------------------------+ |
| | EBS Volume (prod-data) | |
| +------------------------------+ |
+------------------------------------+
|
| Create Snapshot
v
+------------------------------------+
| EBS Snapshot (snap-prod-data) |
+------------------------------------+
|
| Enable Fast Snapshot Restore
v
+------------------------------------+
| Snapshot Ready for Fast Restore |
+------------------------------------+
|
| Restore into New EBS Volume
v
+------------------------------------+
| New EBS Volume (test-data) |
+------------------------------------+
|
| Attach to EC2
v
Test Environment
+------------------------------------+
| EC2 Instance |
| +------------------------------+ |
| | EBS Volume (test-data) | |
| +------------------------------+ |
+------------------------------------+

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