AWS Storage Gateway - File vs Tape vs Volume - Stored vs Cached - AWS Certification Cheat Sheet


Let’s get a quick overview of AWS Storage Gateway from an AWS certification perspective. We will look at important certification questions regarding AWS Storage Gateway.

You will learn

  • What is AWS Storage Gateway?
  • Why do we need AWS Storage Gateway?
  • How is AWS Storage Gateway different from?
  • Compare Storage Gateway Options - AWS Storage File Gateway vs AWS Storage Tape Gateway vs AWS Storage Volume Gateway

AWS Storage Gateway

  • Hybrid storage (cloud + on premise)
  • Unlimited cloud storage for on-premise software applications and users with good performance
  • (Remember) Storage Gateway and S3 Glacier encrypt data by default
  • Three Options
    • AWS Storage File Gateway
    • AWS Storage Tape Gateway
    • AWS Storage Volume Gateway
  • VM image with AWS Storage Gateway software deployed on-premises

AWS Storage File Gateway

  • Problem Statement: Large on-premise file share with terabytes of data
    • Users put files into file share and applications use the files
    • Managing it is becoming expensive
    • Move the file share to cloud without performance impact
  • AWS Storage File Gateway provides cloud storage for your file shares
    • Files stored in Amazon S3 & Glacier
    • Supports Network File System (NFS) and Server Message Block (SMB)

AWS Storage File Gateway

  • File gateway deployed as virtual machine on-premises
    • Maintains a local cache with most recently used objects
  • Benefits from S3 features
    • High durability, low-cost, lifecycle management and cross-region replication
  • Benefits from S3 integrations
    • Data analytics and machine learning applications using Amazon EMR or Amazon Athena
  • Each file gateway supports up to 10 bucket shares

AWS Storage Tape Gateway

  • Tape backups used in enterprises (archives)
    • Stored off-site - expensive, physical wear and tear
  • AWS Storage Tape Gateway - Avoid physical tape backups
  • No change needed for tape backup infrastructure
  • Backup data to virtual tapes (actually, Amazon S3 & Glacier)
  • Benefit from S3 features
    • encryption, high durability, low-cost, and cross-region replication
  • Use S3 lifecycle management
    • move data to S3 Glacier and S3 Glacier Deep Archive

AWS Storage Volume Gateway

  • Volume Gateway : Move block storage to cloud
  • Supports iSCSI protocol
  • Reduce costs
  • Automate backup and disaster recovery
  • Use AWS Backup for backup and restore
  • Use cases
    • Backup and disaster recovery
    • Migration of application data

AWS Storage Volume Gateway - Cached and Stored

  • Cached (Gateway Cached Volumes):
    • Primary Data Store - AWS - Amazon S3
    • On-premise cache stores frequently accessed data
    • Data in S3 CANNOT be accessed directly
      • Take EBS snapshots from cached volumes
  • Stored (Gateway Stored Volumes):
    • Primary Data Store - On-Premises
    • Asynchronous copy to AWS
    • Stored as EBS snapshots
      • For disaster recovery, restore to EBS volumes

AWS Storage Gateway - Summary

  • Key to look for : Hybrid storage (cloud + on premise)
    • File share (NFS or SMB) + Looking for S3 features and integrations => AWS Storage File Gateway
    • Tapes on cloud => AWS Storage Tape Gateway
    • Volumes on cloud (Block Storage) => AWS Storage Volume Gateway
      • High performance => Stored
      • Otherwise => Cached
  • Needs additional setup on-premises
    • VM image with AWS Storage Gateway software deployed on-premises or on EC2 instance

Certification - Recommended Reading

Cloud Certifications - AWS, Azure and Google Cloud - Top 8 FAQ For Me

Google Cloud For Beginners - How to choose a Database Service?

Teaching Cloud Certifications - Top 6 Learnings

Google Cloud For Beginners - How to choose a Compute Service?

Important Kubernetes Concepts Made Easy

Introduction to Google Cloud - For AWS Professionals

Getting Started with Docker - 5 Easy Steps

GCP PubSub - GCP Certification Cheat Sheet

GCP IAM - GCP Certification Cheat Sheet

GCP App Engine - GCP Certification Cheat Sheet

WHAT NEXT?

Congratulations on reading this article!

Wondering what to learn next?

MY RECOMMENDATIONS

Keep Learning Every Day

Check Out Our Amazing ROADMAPS