What is the key characteristic of ephemeral storage?

The key characteristic of ephemeral storage is its non-persistent nature. This type of storage is designed to be temporary and is typically utilized to hold data that is only needed for a short duration or during a specific computing session. When the virtual machine or instance using this storage is terminated or stopped, the data stored in ephemeral storage is lost.

This characteristic makes ephemeral storage suitable for scenarios where transient data is generated, such as caching, temporary files, or session data for applications. Users benefit from faster performance in such contexts since ephemeral storage is often located on the same physical hardware as the computation taking place, enabling quick data read and write operations.

In contrast, options like long-term data retention and high durability refer to storage solutions that are designed to keep data safe and accessible over extended periods, which is not the case with ephemeral storage. Access via APIs only reflects a method of interaction and does not define the fundamental nature of ephemeral storage itself. Thus, non-persistent nature accurately captures what makes ephemeral storage unique and useful in cloud environments.