Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) volumes offer persistent block-level storage for use with Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances. The recommendation to utilize EBS becomes salient in scenarios demanding durable, high-performance storage tied directly to virtual machines. This is particularly relevant when the data stored requires consistent and reliable access, mirroring the behavior of a traditional hard drive.
The significance of EBS lies in its ability to provide scalable and configurable storage solutions. Its benefits encompass data persistence, allowing for data preservation even when EC2 instances are terminated. Historically, managing persistent storage for virtual machines involved complex configurations and potential data loss risks. EBS addresses these challenges by offering a managed service that simplifies storage management and ensures data integrity.