AWS announced today a new service known as Amazon FSx for Windows File Server. Onica is excited to announce that we are one of the launch partners, which means we got a chance to preview this new service and can give you some insight into what it offers.
Designed to make native Windows file shares easy by offering fully managed Windows file systems, this solution reduces the operational overhead of managing a file server, and lets you focus on your business application needs. It has built in integrations with other AWS services and can be accessed by both Windows and Linux based clients .
While Amazon EFS, which provides a cloud-native fully managed file system that provides scalable, elastic file storage for a broad range of Linux-based applications, Amazon FSx for Windows File Server differs by providing a fully managed native Windows file system with features and performance optimized for Windows-based business applications. With Amazon FSx for Windows File Server, Windows customers can begin migrating their file systems into cloud native solutions. Also storage size and throughput capacity are allocated up front, and allow up to 2,048 MBps performance using SSD backed storage.
The service also supports multiple use cases. For example it could be used for centralized content for IIS web server instances, home directory storage for user files, or as a centralized location to store installation binaries or other artifacts. Amazon FSx for Windows File Server provides multiple levels of security and compliance to help ensure your data is protected. Amazon FSx for Windows File Server has been assessed to comply with ISO and PCI-DSS certifications, and is HIPAA eligible, meaning the file systems can be used in financial applications that have PCI Compliant workloads or for storing healthcare related PHI data as a HIPAA-eligible service.
Amazon FSx for Windows File Server automatically encrypts your data at-rest and in-transit and integrates with AWS Managed Microsoft AD to provide secure access to storage. Management of the file systems can leverage fine grained access controls using AWS IAM and support auditing via AWS CloudTrail. Data is replicated within an Availability Zone (AZ), but higher availability can be achieved using DFS Replication and Namespace to support a multi-AZ configuration. To help ensure that your data is protected,Amazon FSx for Windows File Server automatically takes highly durable, file-system consistent daily backups.
Onica is an AWS Premier Consulting Partner with Microsoft Competency and we fully expect this new service to enable us to accelerate the journey of our clients who use Microsoft on AWS.
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