Storage - EFS Storage Classes and Performance Options

Question 1

What are the two storage classes offered by Amazon EFS?

Answer 1

• Standard
• Infrequent Access (IA)

Question 2

When is the Infrequent Access (IA) storage class typically used?

Answer 2

• When storing data that is rarely accessed
• Offers cost reduction on storage

Question 3

How does the first-byte latency differ between Standard and Infrequent Access (IA)?

Answer 3

• IA has an increased first-byte latency impact compared to Standard

Question 4

How are costs managed differently between Standard and Infrequent Access (IA)?

Answer 4

• IA is charged for the amount of storage space used
• IA is also charged for each read and write operation

Question 5

What is EFS lifecycle management?

Answer 5

• Automatically moves data between Standard and IA storage classes
• Data is moved based on a configurable period of inactivity (14, 30, 60, or 90 days)
• Accessing a file resets the inactivity timer

Question 6

Are both storage classes available in all EFS-supported regions?

Answer 6

• Yes, both Standard and IA storage classes are available in all regions

Question 7

What are the two performance modes offered by EFS?

Answer 7

• General Purpose
• Max I/O

Question 8

When is the General Purpose performance mode typically used?

Answer 8

• For most use cases, such as home directories and general file sharing
• Offers all-round performance and low latency
• Limited to 7,000 file system operations per second

Question 9

When is the Max I/O performance mode used?

Answer 9

• For architectures with many thousands of concurrent EC2 instances
• Offers virtually unlimited throughput and IOPS
• May result in higher file operation latency compared to General Purpose

Question 10

How can you determine the need for General Purpose or Max I/O performance mode?

Answer 10

• Run tests alongside your application
• If operations per second are comfortably below 7,000, use General Purpose
• If operations are expected to reach or exceed 7,000, use Max I/O

Question 11

What are the two throughput modes offered by EFS?

Answer 11

• Bursting Throughput (default)
• Provisioned Throughput

Question 12

How does Bursting Throughput mode work?

Answer 12

• Throughput scales as the file system grows
• Default burst capacity is 100 MiB/s (per tebibyte of storage)
• Burst duration depends on accumulated credits during low activity periods

Question 13

When should Provisioned Throughput mode be used?

Answer 13

• When high throughput is required for small file systems
• Bursting Throughput may not be sufficient
• Incurs additional charges for bursting above the default option