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Hi Haridev,
Let me answer your remark here:
“… I think there is industry-accepted meaning for “File Server”
In AWS, there are also different types of File Gateways that you can use, which use Amazon S3 as its underlying storage service. Have you heard of a service called Amazon S3 File Gateway? Here’s the reference link:
https://aws.amazon.com/storagegateway/file/
Is AWS wrong when they named the “Amazon S3 File Gateway” service? Just stating here that there is an “industry-accepted meaning” for file server lacks clarity.
I understand your point here but you shouldn’t forget the fact that Amazon S3 can also act as a File Gateway. Kenneth and I both passed the AWS Solutions Architect Professional exams and let me share my expert opinion on this matter. I’ve been in the IT industry for quite some time as well and the term “file server” can mean:
– Windows File Server (accessible via SMB)
– Network-attached storage (where you have to mount your server)
– A server that you can access via FTP
– A file server that can be accessed via REST API: https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/paas/integration-cloud/rest-api-fs/QuickStart.html
Aside from that, we have to consider two other things:
– Storage Scalability
– Migration Strategy (Re-host or Re-factor?)
You can store file data as objects in Amazon S3 cloud storage for data lakes, backups, and ML workflows. It also offers SMB or NFS-based access to data in Amazon S3 with local caching.
Technically, we’re not using Amazon S3 File Gateway here since the main objective is to migrate the data.
It is true that using the term “file server” seems distracting but the provided option didn’t explicitly say, use Amazon S3 as a “File Server”.
Point #1 – Storage Scalability
Let’s look at the other keywords. The scenario mentions that:
“The aeronautical data consists of technical files which can have a file size of a few megabytes to multiple gigabytes”. A file can be static such as a PDF file, a ZIP file, or any static data, which can be stored in Amazon S3.
So a single file with a file size of “multiple gigabytes”, which means the on-premises server needs to have a scalable storage option to store these files.
The scenario didn’t mention that the file storage should be POSIX-compliant, nor did it says it uses network-attached storage where you have to attach your EC2 instance to a file server.
I have worked as a developer as well and I have handled applications that store flat files to a file server via FTP, or through REST/GraphQL APIs. Thinking that a “file server” is just a NAS or SMB is quite wrong, as we already have a lot of new implementations of a “file server”.
Point #2 – Migration Strategy (Re-host or Re-factor?)
You shouldn’t discard the fact that this scenario is using a Re-factor migration strategy, where you have to change or refactor the existing solution when you move to AWS. This is an important concept in the exam, so don’t expect that all migration scenarios are all “Re-Host” (lift & shift), where you have to use the same technology that your on-premises data center is using:
And echoing Kenneth’s answer above, the scenario is focused on migrating the data in the fastest way possible, and not solely on choosing the right storage for the application.
For this remark:
“… you are trying to redefine it just to make the answer correct”
You are entitled to your own opinion but I do hope that the things I shared here can shed light on other readers.
Are you saying that AWS is also “redefining” the term “file server” when they launched the Amazon S3 File Gateway service? Why didn’t AWS named it Amazon S3 “Object” Gateway considering that S3 is an object storage service?
The truth is, there is no “industry-accepted” definition of a file server. If the scenario explicitly mentioned that the application is using an NFS or SMB file server, then I rest my case, but for this particular scenario, your argument seems invalid in my humble opinion.
Regards,
Jon Bonso
