What is the MOST operationally efficient way to perform this backup?
Attach another EBS volume to the EC2 instance, and copy the contents.
Copy the EBS volume to a server that is running outside AWS and is connected with AWS Direct Connect.
Create an EBS snapshot of the volume.
Create a custom script to copy the EBS file contents to Amazon S3.
Explanations:
Attaching another EBS volume and copying the contents would require additional steps and resources, making it less efficient than creating a snapshot directly.
Copying the EBS volume to a server outside of AWS involves extra complexity, potential data transfer costs, and longer timeframes. It is not the most efficient method for backing up EBS volumes.
Creating an EBS snapshot is the most operationally efficient method as it can be done directly through the AWS Management Console or API, requires minimal manual intervention, and does not impact the performance of the running EC2 instance.
While copying files to Amazon S3 could serve as a backup, it involves additional scripting and manual effort, making it less operationally efficient compared to using EBS snapshots.
I chart that the answer is:
Create an EBS snapshot of the volume.