Which type of storage is temporary and allocated for the lifecycle of a virtual machine?

Ephemeral storage refers to a temporary storage solution that is created alongside the lifecycle of a virtual machine (VM). When a VM is launched, ephemeral storage is allocated for that specific instance, making it ideal for scenarios where data does not need to be retained once the VM is terminated. This type of storage is typically used for caching or intermediate data because it offers high performance and low latency.

Once the VM is stopped or terminated, the data stored on ephemeral storage is lost, as it is not designed to be persistent. This characteristic allows ephemeral storage to be an efficient option for workloads that require transient information that does not need to be stored long-term.

In contrast, other storage types such as block storage, cold storage, and network-attached storage (NAS) are generally intended for longer-term use, offering persistence and durability beyond the lifecycle of a single VM.