Storage options and characteristics (for example, durability, replication)

Storage in AWS is a crucial component for any architect planning to design and deploy systems in the cloud. AWS offers a range of storage services tailored for different needs, which include:

Amazon S3

Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is an object storage service that offers scalability, data availability, security, and performance. It’s used for a variety of storage solutions including backup and restore, archive, enterprise applications, IoT devices, and big data analytics.

Characteristics:

• Durability: S3 promises 99.999999999% (11 9’s) of durability over a given year. It achieves this by automatically replicating data across multiple devices in multiple facilities within a region.
• Replication: S3 provides different replication options such as S3 Standard, S3 Intelligent-Tiering, S3 Glacier, and S3 Glacier Deep Archive. For cross-region replication, S3 also supports CRR (Cross-Region Replication).

Amazon EBS

Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) provides persistent block storage volumes for use with Amazon EC2 instances. EBS volumes are network-attached and remain independent from the life of an instance.

Characteristics:

• Durability: EBS volumes offer a high level of durability and are designed to protect against failures by replicating within the same Availability Zone (AZ).
• Replication: EBS does not automatically replicate data across regions or AZs, but you can take snapshots of your volumes and replicate those across other regions manually.

Amazon EFS

Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) offers file storage for use with Amazon EC2. You can also access EFS from on-premises servers via AWS Direct Connect or AWS VPN.

Characteristics:

• Durability: It is designed to be highly durable and provides a file storage infrastructure for multiple EC2 instances.
• Replication: EFS automatically replicates data within and across multiple AZs.

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 infrastructure, High-Performance Computing (HPC), machine learning, and electronic design automation.

Characteristics:

• Durability: Amazon FSx for Windows File Server and Amazon FSx for Lustre are designed to be highly durable and offer data replication within a single AZ or across multiple AZs, depending on the deployment option.
• Replication: FSx for Windows File Server provides options for Multi-AZ deployments that automatically replicate data synchronously across AZs.

Amazon RDS

Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) makes it easy to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud. It provides cost-efficient and resizable capacity while managing time-consuming database administration tasks.

Characteristics:

• Durability: RDS is configured for automated backups and snapshots are stored durably in Amazon S3.
• Replication: RDS supports several replication features to enhance availability and reliability for your databases, including Multi-AZ deployments and Read Replicas.

Amazon DynamoDB

Amazon DynamoDB is a fully managed NoSQL database service that provides fast and predictable performance with seamless scalability.

Characteristics:

• Durability: DynamoDB stores data across multiple AZs within a region and automatically maintains the desired level of replication and consistency.
• Replication: With DynamoDB Global Tables, you can have a fully replicated database across multiple regions.

Comparison Table

Each storage option on AWS has its characteristics that should be evaluated based on the specific requirements of workload durability, cost, performance, and the level of management required. When preparing for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exam, it’s important to understand these characteristics so that you can select the most appropriate storage option for your architecture.