Add instance store volumes to an EC2 instance
For instance types with NVMe instance store volumes, all of the supported instance store volumes are automatically attached to the instance at launch. They are automatically enumerated and assigned a device name on instance launch.
For instance types with non-NVMe instance store volumes, such as C1, C3, M1, M2, M3, R3, D2, H1, I2, X1, and X1e, you must manually specify the block device mappings for the instance store volumes that you want to attach at launch. Block device mappings can be specified in the instance launch request or in the AMI used to launch the instance. The block device mapping includes a device name and the volume that it maps to. For more information, see Block device mappings for volumes on Amazon EC2 instances
Important
Instance store volumes can be attached to an instance only when you launch it. You can't attach instance store volumes to an instance after you've launched it.
After you launch an instance, you must ensure that the instance store volumes for your instance are formatted and mounted before you can use them. The root volume of an instance store-backed instance is mounted automatically.
Consideration for root volumes
A block device mapping always specifies the root volume for the instance. The root volume is always mounted automatically.
Linux instances – The root volume is either an Amazon EBS volume or an instance store volume. For instances with an instance store volume for the root volume, the size of this volume varies by AMI, but the maximum size is 10 GB. For more information, see Root device type.
Windows instances – The root volume must be an Amazon EBS volume. Instance store is not supported for the root volume.
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