Not really a fair comparison. If we're comparing to USB keys, you should at least compare to ephemeral SSDs rather than EBS SSDs. Unlike EBS, your USB disk isn'

Not really a fair comparison. If we're comparing to USB keys, you should at least compare to ephemeral SSDs rather than EBS SSDs. Unlike EBS, your USB disk isn't made for 99.999% durability, doesn't allow snapshotting, etc.