gp2

gp2 is a general-purpose solid-state drive (SSD) volume type for Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS). It is designed to provide a balance of price and performance for a broad range of workloads, including boot volumes, small to medium databases, and development or test environments. gp2 volumes are designed to be easy to use and manage within the AWS cloud.

Performance in gp2 is tied to volume size. Each volume provides a baseline level of IOPS proportional to its size, with a minimum IOPS for small volumes. Volumes can burst above their baseline performance using a credit system, allowing temporary higher IOPS when needed. The maximum IOPS and throughput for gp2 are limited by the volume size, with typical upper bounds around tens of thousands of IOPS and up to hundreds of megabytes per second in throughput for the largest volumes, though actual figures depend on workload and configuration. gp2 is intended to handle a mix of random and sequential I/O patterns, suitable for many standard workloads.

GP2 volumes can range from small to large sizes, up to a maximum capacity of 16 terabytes per volume. They are designed with durability and reliability in mind: data is replicated within an Availability Zone, and snapshots can be taken for backups and disaster recovery.

Pricing for gp2 is based on the provisioned storage size per month, with no separate IOPS provisioning. This makes cost predictable for general-purpose use. gp2 remains available for existing volumes and workflows, while AWS has introduced gp3 as a newer option with separate provisioning for IOPS and throughput. For new workloads, gp3 is often recommended, but gp2 remains suitable for many common use cases.