This lesson dives into the AWS Elastic File Service - commonly known as EFS - and explains the service, its components, when it should be used, and how to configure it. EFS is considered file-level storage, supporting access by multiple EC2 instances at once, and is also optimized for low latency access. It appears to users like a file manager interface and uses standard file system semantics, such as locking files, renaming files, updating them, and using a hierarchical structure. This is just like what we're used to on standard premises-based systems.
The lesson kicks off with a high-level overview of EFS including its features, benefits, and use cases. This is followed by a review of the different storage class options it provides, namely Standard and Infrequent Access. A demonstration then provides a walk-through on how to configure an EFS file system within your VPC. The lesson covers how to secure your elastic file system, touching upon access control, permissions, and encryption as methods for protecting your data effectively. Finally, it moves on to importing existing on-premises data into EFS. If you want to cement your knowledge of this topic with hands-on experience, you can then try out the Introduction to Elastic File System lab.
This lesson has been created for:
To get the most from this lesson, you should be familiar with the basic concepts of AWS as well as with some of its core components, such as EC2 connectivity and configuration, in addition to VPC. You should also have an understanding of IAM permissions and how access is granted to resources.