Amazon FSx guide for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate Exam

Amazon FSx is a fully managed service that provides high-performance, scalable file systems optimized for various workloads, such as machine learning, HPC (high-performance computing), data analytics, media processing, and general-purpose file storage. There are several variants of FSx, including FSx for Windows File Server, FSx for Lustre, FSx for NetApp ONTAP, and FSx for OpenZFS. Each variant is designed for specific use cases, but they all share the capability to store data in hot or cold tiers.

Differentiating Hot and Cold Storage

1. Hot Storage

• Definition: Hot storage refers to data that is frequently accessed or requires high-performance retrieval times.
• Access Patterns: Hot storage is optimized for workloads where low latency and high throughput are essential, such as transactional databases, machine learning models, or real-time data analytics.
• Use Cases:
  • Real-time data analytics
  • Media processing (video and audio files in active production)
  • Virtual desktop environments
  • Machine learning training datasets
• Performance: This storage tier offers high IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second) and low latency, making it suitable for mission-critical applications.
• Cost: As it provides high-performance access, hot storage is generally more expensive compared to cold storage.
• Data Access: Ideal for applications that need continuous, fast access to large datasets.
• AWS FSx Integration: FSx automatically optimizes storage costs by providing hot storage tiers that ensure rapid access and low-latency performance, especially for FSx for Lustre and FSx for NetApp ONTAP.

2. Cold Storage

• Definition: Cold storage is intended for data that is accessed infrequently and can tolerate higher retrieval latencies.
• Access Patterns: Cold storage is used for archiving and backup purposes where data is not accessed frequently, but should still be available when needed.
• Use Cases:
  • Archival of logs, backups, or compliance-related data
  • Disaster recovery
  • Historical data storage
• Performance: Cold storage has higher latency compared to hot storage, but it is optimized for cost efficiency rather than speed.
• Cost: Cold storage is significantly cheaper than hot storage, making it suitable for long-term data retention with less emphasis on performance.
• Data Access: Retrieval times can be slower, and it's typically used for data that may need to be accessed once in a while, like quarterly or yearly reports.
• AWS FSx Integration: FSx automatically optimizes between hot and cold storage tiers, allowing for seamless cost efficiency. Cold storage options are particularly useful in FSx for NetApp ONTAP, where inactive data can be moved to a cheaper, colder tier without manual intervention.

Automated Tiering in FSx for NetApp ONTAP

Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP offers an advanced feature known as automatic data tiering, which dynamically moves data between performance (hot) and capacity (cold) storage tiers based on access patterns. This feature is key for cost optimization:

• Performance Tier: Stores data that is frequently accessed (hot storage).
• Capacity Tier: Stores infrequently accessed data (cold storage) on lower-cost storage media, such as Amazon S3.
• Cost Optimization: FSx helps reduce costs by only using performance storage for frequently accessed data while keeping infrequently accessed data on cheaper, capacity-optimized storage.
• No Manual Intervention: This tiering is automatic, ensuring a seamless experience without the need for constant manual management.

Data Durability and Availability

Both hot and cold storage in Amazon FSx ensure data durability, with data being replicated across multiple Availability Zones (AZs) to prevent data loss in case of a failure in one AZ. However, hot storage tends to have higher availability guarantees due to its critical role in real-time applications.

Cost Considerations

An AWS Solutions Architect should prioritize balancing cost with performance requirements:

• Cost Savings with Cold Storage: Leveraging FSx’s tiering capabilities can drastically reduce storage costs, especially for datasets that do not require frequent access.
• Hot Storage for Critical Workloads: Solutions that require rapid, low-latency access to data will need to use hot storage, accepting higher costs for performance benefits.
• Automatic Tiering for Mixed Workloads: If you are dealing with a mixed workload, automated tiering (especially in FSx for NetApp ONTAP) can offer significant cost savings by dynamically adjusting between hot and cold storage.

Security and Compliance

• Encryption: Both hot and cold storage in FSx support encryption at rest using AWS Key Management Service (KMS), ensuring that data is secure even while stored in low-cost cold tiers.
• Compliance: FSx adheres to industry standards and compliance requirements, making it a reliable solution for regulated industries such as healthcare and finance.

Other Key AWS Solutions Architect Considerations

1. Backup and Restore: AWS FSx provides native backup capabilities that allow for periodic backups of data. For cold storage, these backups can be retained in Amazon S3 Glacier for long-term retention.
2. Hybrid Cloud Workloads: FSx for NetApp ONTAP and FSx for Windows File Server allow for integration with on-premises environments, which can be useful for hybrid cloud architectures.
3. Data Migration: Solutions architects should be familiar with AWS DataSync, which helps move large amounts of data into or out of FSx, whether for cold storage archival or for hot storage use in active workloads.

Conclusion

For AWS Solutions Architects, understanding the trade-offs between cold and hot storage in Amazon FSx is essential for designing cost-effective, scalable, and high-performance solutions. Leveraging FSx’s tiering and cost management features can significantly optimize storage strategies for various workloads, from real-time analytics to long-term archival. By incorporating automatic data tiering, an architect can effectively manage storage costs while ensuring performance where it's needed most.

Sample Paper

Question 1:

Which of the following Amazon FSx features helps optimize storage costs by automatically moving data between hot and cold storage tiers based on data access patterns?

A) Amazon FSx Backup and Restore
B) Amazon FSx Data Replication
C) Amazon FSx Automated Tiering
D) Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP Read Replicas

Answer: C
Amazon FSx provides automated tiering, especially in FSx for NetApp ONTAP, which dynamically moves data between hot (performance) and cold (capacity) tiers. This helps reduce costs by storing frequently accessed data in high-performance tiers and infrequently accessed data in lower-cost cold tiers.

Question 2:

A company is running a machine learning model that frequently accesses a large dataset stored on Amazon FSx for Lustre. However, some historical data is only accessed once a month. What is the most cost-effective storage strategy for the company?

A) Store all data in Amazon FSx hot storage
B) Store all data in Amazon S3 Glacier
C) Enable automated tiering in Amazon FSx to move inactive data to a lower-cost tier
D) Store all data in Amazon FSx cold storage

Answer: C
The company can use automated tiering to store frequently accessed data in hot storage and move the historical data to cold storage. This approach ensures cost savings without compromising performance when accessing the hot data.

Question 3:

Which of the following is NOT a typical use case for Amazon FSx cold storage?

A) Archival of compliance-related data
B) Real-time data analytics
C) Disaster recovery backup storage
D) Long-term data retention

Answer: B
Cold storage is optimized for infrequently accessed data like archives, disaster recovery, and backups. Real-time data analytics requires low-latency, high-performance access, making hot storage more suitable.

Question 4:

Your organization is using Amazon FSx for Windows File Server to store compliance records that are rarely accessed, but must be stored for 7 years. You also run an active ERP system on the same file system, which needs low-latency access. What is the best solution to optimize storage cost while maintaining performance?

A) Use Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP and enable data tiering to move compliance records to cold storage
B) Store all compliance records in Amazon FSx hot storage
C) Store compliance records in Amazon S3 Glacier and active data in Amazon FSx hot storage
D) Use Amazon FSx for Lustre and migrate all compliance records to cold storage manually

Answer: A
Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP offers automatic data tiering that dynamically moves infrequently accessed data to cold storage while keeping active data in hot storage. This ensures both cost savings and optimal performance for the ERP system.

Question 5:

What type of data would benefit most from being stored in Amazon FSx hot storage?

A) Inactive log files
B) Machine learning training datasets
C) Compliance archive data
D) Backup files for disaster recovery

Answer: B
Machine learning training datasets require frequent, high-performance access, which makes hot storage the ideal solution. Other options like log files, compliance data, and backups are typically stored in cold storage since they don’t require frequent access.