AMI Not Working With g5.2xlarge Instance Type

Question

I launched a g5.2xlarge (Windows) instance type about a week ago. I've configured it exactly how I need and used the console to create an image of the server. The server contains only a single 150 GB EBS root volume. The image is created successfully but when I go to launch a second g5.2xlarge instance using this AMI, it shows the following under storage. I'm not sure where the second 450 GB volume is coming from or why I can't remove it.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/55fw9zl6aoalxoi/NVIDIA_Share_gvEY7NfSrE.png

When the server is launched, I can see the 150 GB volume (but not the 450 GB one) in Windows but none of the data (files, configs, drivers, etc.) from the original server are there. It just looks like a bare Windows install. Did the data copied to that second invisible volume or something? Basically, all I want is an instance that's identical to the one I've already configured. I've done this successfully in the past but usually with Linux and with different instance types.

Thanks.

Accepted Answer

The 450GB volume is whats called an instance store volume which is temporary block storage attached directly to the server. When you stop, hibernate, or terminate an instance, every block of storage in the instance store is reset. Here is some AWS documentation that explains it in more detail.

Your data will not have been copied to from the EBS volume to the Instance Store Volume.

I would try two things:

Access the original server and double check all your data is there, then create another AMI (Doco here)
Launch another instance using the newly created AMI (Doco here)

Your data will not have been copied to from the EBS volume to the Instance Store Volume.

I would try two things:
1. Access the original server and double check all your data is there, then create another AMI (Doco [here](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/creating-an-ami-ebs.html#how-to-create-ebs-ami))
2. Launch another instance using the newly created AMI (Doco [here](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/creating-an-ami-ebs.html#launching-instance-from-images-page))

AMI Not Working With g5.2xlarge Instance Type

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