Amazon FSx

Service for using purpose-built, high-performance file systems on AWS.

Back to glossary Go to related practice questions

In one sentence

Service for using purpose-built, high-performance file systems on AWS.

Overview

Amazon FSx is a service that provides fully managed file systems such as Windows File Server and Lustre.

Common use cases

Windows file sharing
High-speed file systems for HPC
On-premises migration

CLF-C02 exam points

A file storage service
Offers options such as Windows File Server and Lustre
Serves different use cases than S3 or EFS

SAA-C03 exam points

Consider FSx for Windows File Server when migrating Windows workloads
Consider FSx for Lustre for HPC
Select based on access and performance requirements

Practical Use

Amazon FSx is a family of services that provides industry-standard file systems as fully managed offerings. It includes four variants: FSx for Windows File Server (SMB protocol / Active Directory integration / NTFS-compliant ACL), FSx for Lustre (a massively parallel file system for HPC and machine learning), FSx for NetApp ONTAP (using NetApp features on AWS), and FSx for OpenZFS (leveraging OpenZFS snapshot and replication features), each optimized for different workloads. It differs in purpose and characteristics from S3 and EFS, and is chosen when a specific file system feature or protocol is essential. FSx for Windows File Server is widely used for on-premises migration of Windows workloads. It is accessed via the SMB protocol and can integrate with Active Directory (AWS Managed Microsoft AD or self-managed AD) to provide user / group authentication and access control via NTFS ACL. Because existing Windows shared folders can be migrated as-is, it is well suited for lift-and-shift of file servers. FSx for Lustre is designed for workloads that require ultra-high throughput and low latency, such as machine learning training and HPC (High-Performance Computing). It features "data repository integration" with S3 buckets, which transparently exposes objects in S3 through the Lustre file system. A common pattern is to keep machine learning datasets in S3 and access them at high speed via Lustre only during training. In the exam context, CLF-C02 asks at the level of "it is a file storage service" and "there are options such as Windows File Server and Lustre". SAA-C03 frequently asks about differentiating among S3 / EBS / EFS / FSx (object / block / NFS / SMB or Lustre).

Official Documentation

Cost notes

Billed by file system capacity and throughput
Not needed for personal static-site MVPs

Security notes

Design VPC-internal access and authentication
Minimize file share permissions

Related services

Amazon Simple Storage Service

A representative AWS storage service for storing files securely and at low cost.

Amazon Elastic File System

File storage that can be shared across multiple servers.

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud

Virtual servers you can freely use on AWS.

Related architecture diagrams

Related architecture diagrams have not been added for this term yet.