Comparison: io1 vs io2 (Provisioned IOPS EBS Volumes)
Both io1 and io2 are Amazon EBS Provisioned IOPS volumes designed for high-performance workloads. However, io2 offers several improvements over io1 in terms of performance, durability, and cost efficiency.
🔹 Quick Comparison Table
Feature
io1
io2
Max IOPS per Volume
64,000
256,000
IOPS per GiB
50:1
500:1 (more efficient)
Max Throughput
1,000 MB/s
4,000 MB/s
Durability
99.9%
99.999% (5 9’s)
Cost
More expensive
Lower than io1 for similar performance
Best For
Legacy high-performance apps
Mission-critical, high-throughput applications (e.g., SAP HANA, large DBs)
Performance Consistency
Good, but not as efficient as io2
Better performance consistency
Volume Size
4 GiB to 16 TiB
4 GiB to 16 TiB
Max IOPS and Throughput
io1 supports up to 64,000 IOPS per volume and 1,000 MB/s throughput.
io2 supports up to 256,000 IOPS per volume and 4,000 MB/s throughput, offering 4× the IOPS and 4× the throughput.
IOPS Efficiency
io2 is more efficient, allowing 500 IOPS per GiB compared to 50 IOPS per GiB in io1. This means you can achieve higher IOPS with smaller volumes in io2.
Durability
io1 offers 99.9% durability, meaning the chance of failure is slightly higher.
io2 offers 99.999% durability, which is 10× more reliable than io1, making it ideal for mission-critical applications.
Cost Efficiency
io2 is generally more cost-effective than io1 for similar performance, thanks to its better IOPS-to-storage efficiency and durability.
io2 can provide lower pricing for workloads that require extreme IOPS while maintaining durability.
Use Cases
io1 is still a solid choice for legacy applications or systems that require high IOPS but do not need the highest possible durability or performance consistency.
io2 is recommended for high-throughput databases, large-scale SAP HANA, high-performance computing, and other mission-critical workloads that require extreme performance and reliability.
Comparison: Provisioned IOPS (io1/io2) vs. General Purpose (gp3/gp2) EBS Volumes
Amazon EBS provides different volume types optimized for performance and cost. Provisioned IOPS (io1 & io2) are designed for high-performance workloads, while gp3 & gp2 are for general-purpose use cases.
Feature
io1 (PIOPS)
io2 (PIOPS)
gp3 (Recommended)
gp2
Performance Type
Provisioned IOPS
Provisioned IOPS
Baseline + Provisioned IOPS
Burstable IOPS
Max IOPS per Volume
64,000
256,000
16,000
16,000 (burstable)
IOPS per GiB
50:1
500:1 (more efficient)
500 (scalable)
3:1 (burstable)
Max Throughput (MB/s)
1,000
4,000
1,000
250 (burst)
Latency
Low (<1ms)
Lower (<1ms)
Moderate
Moderate
Best for
Databases, big data
Mission-critical DBs
Most workloads
Dev/test, small apps
Durability
99.9%
99.999% (More durable)
99.8%
99.8%
Cost
$$$ (expensive)
$$$ (expensive)
$ (cost-efficient)
$$
Performance & IOPS Scaling
io2 offers 500:1 IOPS per GiB, 10× more than io1.
gp3 is a cost-effective alternative (up to 16,000 IOPS & 1,000 MB/s throughput).
gp2 is burstable, meaning performance fluctuates.
Durability & Reliability
io2 has 99.999% durability, making it 10× more reliable than io1.
io1 and gp2 have lower durability (99.8–99.9%).
Cost Considerations
gp3 is the most cost-effective for most workloads (customizable IOPS without paying for extra storage).
Use io2 only for mission-critical workloads needing high performance and extreme reliability.