Amazon EFS is a simple, scalable, fully managed elastic NFS file system for use with AWS Cloud services and on-premises resources. It is built to scale on demand to petabytes without disrupting applications, growing and shrinking automatically as you add and remove files.
Key Features and Benefits of Amazon EFS
- Fully Managed Service – Amazon EFS takes away the complexity of managing a file system. It handles all the heavy lifting such as hardware setup, software configuration, patching, and backups.
- Scalability – It scales automatically in response to your application needs upto petabytes with a maximum throughput of 10+ GB/s.
- High-level of Durability and Availability – EFS file systems are distributed across an unconstrained number of storage servers, which ensures high availability and durability.
- Security – You can control access to your file systems using VPC security group rules and Network Access Control Lists (NACLs). It also supports data encryption at rest and in transit.
Example Use-Cases for Amazon EFS
- Content Management & Web Serving
- Big Data & Analytics
- Media Processing Workflows
- Home directories
Amazon FSx
Amazon FSx provides fully managed third-party file systems with the native compatibility and feature sets for workloads such as Microsoft Windows–based storage, high performance computing, machine learning, and electronic design automation. Amazon FSx offers two products: FSx for Lustre and FSx for Windows File Server.
Key Features and Benefits of Amazon FSx
- Fully Managed Service – Like EFS, FSx also takes care of hardware, software, and backups.
- Compatibility – FSx provides full compatibility with specific file systems. For example, FSx for Windows File Server supports SMB protocol, NTFS, and Active Directory (AD) integration.
- Data Replication – It performs automatic data replication within its service, providing high levels of reliability and availability.
- Security – FSx supports encryption of data at rest and in transit.
Example Use-Cases for Amazon FSx
- High Performance Computing (HPC)
- Machine learning
- Windows-based applications
- Rich media workloads
Comparison between Amazon EFS and Amazon FSx
| Criteria | Amazon EFS | Amazon FSx |
|---|---|---|
| System Type | NFS | Windows / Lustre |
| Encryption | Yes, both at rest & in transit | Yes, both at rest & in transit |
| Scalability | Elastic, automatic up/down scaling | Requires configuration |
| File System Compatibility | Linux-based systems | Windows-based or Lustre-compatible systems |
| Storage Durability | High, with automatic scaling and multiple AZ storage | High, with automatic backups and multi-AZ replication |
| Use Cases | Big data analytics, web serving, content management, etc. | High Performance Computing, machine learning, Windows applications, etc. |
In conclusion, it’s essential to understand these file systems as an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, as they play a crucial role in managing data effectively in the AWS ecosystem. Both have their unique features and use-cases, and it’s crucial to select the appropriate one based on your specific requirements.
Practice Test
True or False: Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) is a scalable file storage for Amazon EC2 instances.
- True
Answer: True
Explanation: Amazon EFS is indeed scalable and designed to provide massively parallel shared access to thousands of Amazon EC2 instances, making it a perfect solution for applications that need to scale on the fly.
Which of the following Amazon services makes it easy and cost effective to run Windows file workloads in the AWS Cloud?
- a) Amazon FSx
- b) Amazon EFS
- c) Amazon S3
- d) Amazon EBS
Answer: a) Amazon FSx
Explanation: Amazon FSx for Windows File Server provides a fully managed native Microsoft Windows file system so you can easily move your Windows-based applications that require file storage to the AWS Cloud.
True or False: Amazon EFS offers only a single storage class.
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Amazon EFS offers three storage classes: Standard, Infrequent Access, and One Zone.
The ____ is a fully managed service that makes it easy to launch and run feature-rich and highly-performant file systems.
- a) Amazon S3
- b) Amazon FSx
- c) Amazon EBD
- d) Amazon EC2
Answer: b) Amazon FSx
Explanation: Amazon FSx integrates the feature-rich file systems with the benefits of AWS for a broad array of use cases.
True or False: Amazon FSx provides a fully managed experience that handles time-consuming administrative tasks like hardware provisioning, software configuration, patching, and backups.
- True
Answer: True
Explanation: Amazon FSx eliminates the typical administrative overhead, providing a fully managed and easy to use file storage.
Which of the following storage services is best for file-level storage?
- a) Amazon EBS
- b) Amazon S3
- c) Amazon FSx
- d) Amazon EFS
Answer: d) Amazon EFS
Explanation: Amazon EFS is designed specifically for file-level (also known as unstructured data) storage.
True or False: Amazon EFS does not support Network File System (NFS) protocols.
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Amazon EFS supports NFS versions 0 and 1, which allows you to access your files from a wide range of operating systems and architectures.
Which of the following AWS services supports SMB protocol?
- a) Amazon EBS
- b) Amazon S3
- c) Amazon FSx for Windows File Server
- d) Amazon EFS
Answer: c) Amazon FSx for Windows File Server
Explanation: Amazon FSx for Windows File Server supports the SMB protocol, allowing you to access your files from Windows-based systems.
True or False: Both Amazon EFS and Amazon FSx require manual patching and software configuration.
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Both Amazon EFS and Amazon FSx are fully managed services, meaning they handle all the administrative tasks, including patching and software configuration.
Which AWS storage service would you likely use if you have Windows-based applications that require server message block (SMB) protocol?
- a) Amazon EBS
- b) Amazon S3
- c) Amazon FSx for Windows File Server
- d) Amazon EFS
Answer: c) Amazon FSx for Windows File Server
Explanation: Amazon FSx for Windows File Server supports the SMB protocol, which is required for most Windows-based applications.
Interview Questions
What is Amazon Elastic File System (EFS)?
Amazon EFS is a scalable file storage for use with Amazon EC2. It provides a file system interface, file system access semantics (such as strong consistency and file locking), and concurrently-accessible storage for up to thousands of Amazon EC2 instances.
What is Amazon FSx?
Amazon FSx provides fully managed third-party file systems with the native compatibility and feature sets for workloads such as Microsoft Windows–based storage, high-performance computing, machine learning, and electronic design automation (EDA).
How is durability ensured in Amazon EFS?
EFS file systems are distributed across an unconstrained number of storage servers, which ensures durability and provides the ability to sustain concurrent device failures while still providing access to your data.
Can we use both Lustre and Windows file systems on Amazon FSx?
Yes, Amazon FSx supports both Lustre and Windows file systems. Amazon FSx for Lustre provides a high-performance file system optimized for fast processing of workloads, and Amazon FSx for Windows File Server provides fully managed, highly reliable and scalable file storage that is accessible over the industry-standard Server Message Block (SMB) protocol.
What is the main purpose of using Amazon EFS?
Amazon EFS is designed to provide massively parallel shared access to thousands of Amazon EC2 instances, enabling your applications to achieve high levels of aggregate throughput and IOPS with consistent low latencies.
What is the purpose of FSx for Windows File Server?
FSx for Windows File Server gives you fully managed SMB file storage that is accessible from Windows, Linux, and macOS systems.
How is data secured in Amazon EFS?
Amazon EFS provides several layers of security for your data. These include network access controls, user and group level permissions, encryption of data at rest and in transit, and integration with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM).
What is the cost model for Amazon FSx?
The cost for Amazon FSx is both for the storage capacity used and the throughput capacity selected. This includes backups, which are automatic and incremental.
Can Amazon EFS be used with AWS Lambda?
Yes, AWS Lambda functions can access the file systems in Amazon EFS.
What are the primary use cases for FSx for Lustre?
FSx for Lustre is mainly used for workloads that require high performance computing, machine learning and media data processing tasks.
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