A transit agency archives large sequential video files on an EC2-attached volume where throughput matters more than tiny random IOPS. Which EBS type is appropriate?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Big sequential video loves a throughput firehose—st1 HDD is built for that stream. Burning io2 on pure sequential archives is usually overkill. Match HDD versus SSD to how the bytes are read.
Full Explanation
A transit agency archiving large sequential video files on an EC2-attached volume, where throughput matters more than tiny random IOPS, should choose Throughput Optimized HDD (st1). The st1 volume type is designed for large, sequential, frequently accessed HDD workloads such as big sequential scans and streaming-style archive reads/writes—aligning cost and throughput with municipal video archive patterns.
Using io2 provisioned IOPS for every sequential archive stream regardless of cost fails as an efficiency choice: provisioned IOPS SSD is optimized for low-latency random I/O, which is usually unnecessary and expensive for pure sequential video archives. Using only gp3 boot-sized volumes with no separate data volume fails capacity and workload separation for large archives. Using sc1 cold HDD for latency-critical random database indexes on the same path fails because sc1 is for cold sequential data, not latency-critical random indexes, and confuses workload classes.
Exam caveat: if the archive becomes random-read heavy or needs consistent low latency, reassess SSD; st1 is right when the stated pattern is large sequential throughput. Operational check: place video archives on st1 data volumes sized for throughput, separate them from boot volumes, monitor throughput credits/limits, and validate sequential read rates against transit retention workflows.