Posted On: Nov 29, 2016
AWS Storage Gateway now provides a virtual on-premises file server, which enables you to store and retrieve Amazon S3 objects through standard file storage protocols. With file gateway, existing applications or devices can use secure and durable cloud storage without needing to be modified. File gateway simplifies moving data into S3 for in-cloud workloads, provides cost-effective storage for backup and archive, or expands your on-premises storage into the cloud.
File gateway is available as a virtual machine image which you download from the AWS Management Console. Once deployed in your data center and associated with your AWS account, your configured S3 buckets will be available as Network File System (NFS) mount points. Your applications read and write files and directories over NFS, interfacing to the gateway as a file server. In turn, the gateway translates these file operations into object requests on your S3 buckets. Like existing volume and tape gateways, your most recently used data is cached on the gateway for low-latency access, and data transfer between your data center and AWS is fully managed and optimized by the gateway. Once in S3, you can access the objects directly or manage them using features such as S3 Lifecycle Policies, object versioning, and cross-region replication.