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FSx

Priority Tier 3 Domain 3: Design High-Performing Architectures Domain 4: Design Cost-Optimized Architectures

AWS FSx addresses the gap between generic cloud storage (S3, EFS) and specific commercial application requirements needing specialized file system types like Windows SMB shares or high-performance Lustre. It provides fully managed, specific file systems without the need to manage underlying infrastructure, hardware failures, or OS patching. (source_page: 5)

Learning Objectives

Introduction to Amazon FSx

Amazon FSx is a family of fully managed file systems designed to address specialized application needs beyond general-purpose cloud storage services.

Addresses the gap between generic cloud storage (S3, EFS) and specific commercial application requirements, particularly those needing specialized file system types like Windows SMB shares or high-performance Lustre.
Provides fully managed, specific file systems without the need to manage underlying infrastructure, hardware failures, or OS patching.

Amazon FSx Service Offerings

Amazon FSx offers several distinct file system types, each optimized for different workloads and use cases.

Amazon FSx for Windows File Server

For migrating existing Windows-based file workloads without code rewrites. It is 100% compatible with Windows environments and presents standard SMB file shares.
compatibility: 100% compatible with Windows environments
protocols: Standard SMB file shares
file_systems: Windows NTFS or New Technology File System
integration: Microsoft Active Directory for authentication and permissions
storage_options: SSD (for high-performance, latency-sensitive workloads e.g., SQL Server, VDI), HDD (for general-purpose, cost-effective storage e.g., user home directories)
scalability: Up to hundreds of petabytes of data and millions of IOPS
backup: Daily backups to Amazon S3
Use Cases:
  • Migrating existing Windows-based file workloads
  • SQL Server
  • VDI
  • User home directories

Amazon FSx for Lustre

For high-performance computing (HPC) workloads requiring massive throughput and speed. It is based on the popular open-source Lustre parallel file system and is POSIX compliant, working seamlessly with Linux-based applications. It can link directly to S3 buckets, allowing data in S3 to be processed as a mounted file system with high speed and write data back to S3.
file_system: Lustre parallel file system
compatibility: POSIX compliant, works seamlessly with Linux-based applications
s3_integration: Can link directly to S3 buckets
deployment_options: Scratch (for temporary data processing or bursty workloads; data is not replicated), Persistent (for long-term storage, speed, and parallelism for massive jobs)
storage_classes: SSD, intelligent tiering, HDD
scalability: Up to hundreds of gigabytes, millions of IOPS, sub-millisecond latency
Use Cases:
  • High-performance computing
  • machine learning training
  • video rendering
  • big data analytics

Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP

For enterprises with existing NetApp on-premises infrastructure, providing a fully managed ONTAP experience in the cloud.
ontap_description: Proprietary operating system from NetApp for data storage management, organization, retrieval, and access
protocols: Supports NAS (SMB, NFS) and SAN (iSCSI)
features: Data compression, deduplication, SnapMirror replication
compatibility: Diversified operating systems and services (Linux, Windows, Mac, VMware Cloud on AWS, Amazon WorkSpaces, AppStream 2.0, EC2, ECS, EKS)
Use Cases:
  • Migrating existing ONTAP environments
  • lift-and-shift of SAN/NAS from on-premises to cloud

Amazon FSx for OpenZFS

For high-performance, data-intensive Linux and Unix environments. OpenZFS is an open-source enterprise-grade file system and logical volume manager known for data integrity, high performance, and flexible storage management.
data_integrity: Generates checksums for data blocks; verifies checksums on read and attempts data healing using redundant copies to prevent 'bit rot.'
performance: Up to 2 million IOPS with latency of hundreds of microseconds
features: Instant point-in-time snapshots, data cloning
compatibility: Broadly accessible from Linux, Windows, Macs, VMware, Cloud services (WorkSpaces, AppStream 2.0, EC2, ECS, EKS)
protocols: Compatible with industry-standard NFS protocols (v3, v4.1, v4.2)
Use Cases:
  • Replacing on-premises file servers
  • building and running high-performance data-intensive applications

FSx Deployment Options

FSx file systems can be deployed in different configurations to balance cost and availability.

Single AZ

A deployment option that is cheaper and offers faster failover within the availability zone.
cost: Cheaper
failover: Faster failover within the availability zone
Use Cases:
  • Development or test environments

Multi-AZ

A deployment option that offers higher availability and is standard for production workloads. It synchronously replicates data across two Availability Zones for high availability and durability. Automatic failover typically occurs under 60 seconds.
cost: Higher
availability: Standard for production workloads
replication: Synchronously replicates data across two Availability Zones for high availability and durability
failover: Automatic failover typically under 60 seconds
scalability: Dynamic scaling of storage capacity and performance without downtime
Use Cases:
  • Production workloads requiring high availability

FSx Management Console Demonstration

procedure

This section outlines the steps for creating different FSx file systems via the AWS Management Console.

Demonstration snippets for creating FSx file systems.

Prerequisites

  • AWS Management Console access
1

Search for 'FSX' in the AWS Management Console search bar.

💡 To access the Amazon FSx service dashboard.

2

Select the desired FSx file system type (e.g., FSX for NetApp ONTAP, FSX for OpenZFS, FSX for Windows File Server, FSX for Lustre).

💡 To initiate the creation wizard for a specific FSx offering.

3

Configure FSx for Windows File Server: Provide a Name (optional, e.g., CS FSX demo).

4

Configure FSx for Windows File Server: Select Deployment Type: Multi-AZ or Single-AZ (Single-AZ1, Single-AZ2 with NVMe cache).

5

Configure FSx for Windows File Server: Choose Storage Type: SSD or HDD.

6

Configure FSx for Windows File Server: Specify Storage Capacity: Mandatory (e.g., 300GB).

7

Configure FSx for Windows File Server: Configure Provisioned IOPS (for SSD): Automatic (3 IOPS/GB) or user-provisioned (e.g., 10,000).

8

Configure FSx for Windows File Server: Select Throughput Capacity: Selectable (e.g., 256 MB/sec recommended).

9

Configure FSx for Windows File Server: Define Network: VPC, preferred subnet, standby subnet.

10

Configure FSx for Windows File Server: Choose Network Type: IPv4 or dual-stack.

11

Configure FSx for Windows File Server: Configure Windows Authentication: Requires Windows Active Directory (AWS Managed or Self-Managed). (Note: This was a blocker for the demo).

12

Configure FSx for Lustre Creation: Select Deployment and Storage Class: Persistent SSD.

💡 To set up a high-performance file system for HPC workloads.

13

Configure FSx for Lustre Creation: Configure Throughput: Configurable (e.g., 250 MB/sec per terabyte).

14

Configure FSx for Lustre Creation: Specify Storage Capacity: Minimum required based on throughput (e.g., 19.2 TB).

15

Configure FSx for Lustre Creation: Configure Metadata Configuration: Automatic.

16

Configure FSx for Lustre Creation: Select Encryption Option: AWS Key or customer-provided key.

17

Configure FSx for Lustre Creation: Specify Data Repository: Path to S3 bucket.

18

Configure FSx for Lustre Creation: Review and Create File System.

Exam Tips

Glossary

SMB
Server Message Block, a network file sharing protocol used by FSx for Windows File Server.
NTFS
New Technology File System, a standard file system for Windows supported by FSx for Windows File Server.
POSIX
Portable Operating System Interface, a standard that FSx for Lustre and OpenZFS comply with for compatibility with Linux/Unix applications.
Lustre
A popular open-source parallel file system used by Amazon FSx for Lustre for high-performance computing workloads.
NetApp ONTAP
Proprietary operating system from NetApp for data storage management, organization, retrieval, and access, offered as a fully managed service via Amazon FSx.
NFS
Network File System, a protocol supported by FSx for NetApp ONTAP and FSx for OpenZFS.
iSCSI
Internet Small Computer Systems Interface, a protocol supported by FSx for NetApp ONTAP for SAN access.
OpenZFS
An open-source enterprise-grade file system and logical volume manager known for data integrity, high performance, and flexible storage management, used by Amazon FSx for OpenZFS.

Key Takeaways

Content Sources

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