Storage Gateway

Question 1

Which AWS service enables hybrid cloud storage by providing on-premises data centers with access to virtually unlimited cloud storage through standard storage protocols like iSCSI, SMB, and NFS?

Answer 1

AWS Storage Gateway

Question 2

What are the types of AWS Storage Gateway?

Answer 2

• Volume Gateway
• Tape Gateway (Virtual Tape Library - VTL)
• File Gateway

Question 3

How can AWS Storage Gateway be deployed for integration with on-premises environment?

Answer 3

• As a virtual machine (VM) on platforms like VMware, Hyper-V, or Linux KVM
• As an Amazon EC2 instance within a VPC

Question 4

How is AWS Volume Storage Gateway deployed?

Answer 4

As a virtual machine on-premises or as a hardware appliance, serving as a bridge between on-premises storage and AWS storage

Question 5

Which protocols does AWS Volume Storage Gateway support?

Answer 5

• iSCSI
• NFS (Linux systems)
• SMB (Windows systems)

Question 6

Which AWS services are natively integrated with AWS Volume Storage Gateway?

Answer 6

• EBS
• S3
• S3 Glacier

Question 7

What are the common use cases for AWS Volume Storage Gateway?

Answer 7

• On-premises to AWS migrations
• Storage extensions to AWS
• Tiered storage solutions
• Disaster recovery and backup system replacement

Question 8

In which modes can AWS Volume Storage Gateway operate?

Answer 8

• Stored volumes
• Cached volumes

Question 9

How does an on-premises data center communicate with AWS Volume Storage Gateway?

Answer 9

• Over the public internet to a public storage gateway endpoint
• Via AWS Direct Connect (DX) using a Public Virtual Interface (VIF)

Question 10

Can EBS Snapshots be created from raw data stored in S3 through AWS Volume Storage Gateway?

Answer 10

Yes, raw data in S3 can be used to create snapshots, which can then be used to provision EBS volumes

Question 11

In which AWS Volume Storage Gateway mode is all data stored locally on the gateway’s on-premises storage, while also asynchronously copied to S3 in an AWS-managed area that is accessible only through the AWS Storage Gateway console?

Answer 11

Stored volume mode

Question 12

In which AWS Volume Storage Gateway mode is all data primarily stored in S3, with only frequently accessed data cached locally, and the AWS-managed area is accessible only through the storage gateway console?

Answer 12

Cached volume mode

Question 13

What are the advantages and limitations of using AWS Volume Storage Gateway in stored volume mode?

Answer 13

Advantages:
- Enables full disk backups with reliable Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO)
- Supports disaster recovery by allowing EBS snapshots to create EBS volumes

Limitations:
- Does not support data center extension for capacity increase, as data is primarily stored on the gateway’s local storage

Question 14

What is the primary benefit of AWS Volume Storage Gateway in cached volume mode?

Answer 14

Provides data center extension by increasing storage capacity, as data is stored remotely in the AWS-managed S3 area

Question 15

Which AWS Volume Storage Gateway mode uses an upload buffer and local storage?

Answer 15

Stored volume mode

Question 16

Which AWS Storage Gateway modes utilize an upload buffer and local cached storage for actively used data?

Answer 16

• Volume Storage Gateway in Cached volume mode
• Tape Storage Gateway (Virtual Tape Library - VTL)

Question 17

What is the maximum number of volumes supported by AWS Volume Storage Gateway?

Answer 17

32 volumes

Question 18

What is the total storage capacity supported by AWS Volume Storage Gateway?

Answer 18

• Stored mode: Up to 512 TB
• Cached mode: Up to 1 PB

Question 19

What is the maximum volume size supported per AWS Volume Storage Gateway?

Answer 19

• Stored mode: Up to 16 TB per volume
• Cached mode: Up to 32 TB per volume

Question 20

Which AWS Storage Gateway type provides a Virtual Tape Library (VTL) backed by S3 and a Virtual Tape Shelf (VTS) backed by Glacier or Glacier Deep Archive?

Answer 20

AWS Tape Storage Gateway

Question 21

How does an on-premises data center communicate with an AWS Tape Storage Gateway?

Answer 21

Through the public network using a public Storage Gateway endpoint or via AWS Direct Connect (DX) Public Virtual Interface (VIF)

Question 21

What protocol is supported by AWS Tape Storage Gateway?

Answer 21

iSCSI

Question 21

How does AWS Tape Gateway interact with a backup server for tape-based workloads?

Answer 21

Through iSCSI interface (endpoint) that emulates a physical tape library

Question 21

What is the size range of virtual tapes in AWS Tape Storage Gateway?

Answer 21

From 100 GiB to 5 TiB, with 5 TiB being the maximum size of an S3 object

Question 22

What is the total storage capacity for all virtual tapes in AWS Tape Storage Gateway?

Answer 22

1 PiB of data

Question 22

What is the maximum number of virtual tapes supported by AWS Tape Storage Gateway?

Answer 22

1500 virtual tapes

Question 23

Where can virtual tapes be exported in AWS Tape Storage Gateway for unlimited storage?

Answer 23

The Virtual Tape Shelf (VTS): - Glacier: For data that might need occasional access - Glacier Deep Archive: For long-term storage of data required for legal or compliance purposes, unlikely to be accessed

Question 24

Can virtual tapes in AWS Tape Storage Gateway be accessed when moved to Glacier for storage?

Answer 24

Yes, virtual tapes can be retrieved back into the Virtual Tape Library (VTL) for access by AWS Tape Storage Gateway

Question 25

What are the main use cases for AWS Tape Storage Gateway?

Answer 25

- Replaces expensive hardware components of existing backup systems with AWS storage - Extends backup system capacity using AWS - Facilitates migration of VTL backups to the cloud

Question 26

Which AWS Storage Gateway type is best suited for traditional tape backup architectures?

Answer 26

AWS Tape (VTL) Storage Gateway

Question 27

What is a Tape Drive?

Answer 27

A device that reads from or writes to a tape sequentially, unlike SSDs or HDDs that support random access

Question 28

What are Tape Loaders?

Answer 28

Robots that automate the swapping of tapes in and out of tape drives

Question 29

What are Tape Slots?

Answer 29

Storage locations within a tape library for tapes not currently in a drive

Question 30

What does a Tape Library consist of?

Answer 30

- One or more drives - One or more loaders - One or more slots

Question 31

What action is required to locate specific data on a tape?

Answer 31

The entire tape must be sequentially searched (no random access like SSDs or HDDs)

Question 32

Can data on a tape be updated?

Answer 32

No, data on tape can only be overwritten, not updated

Question 33

Which AWS Storage Gateway type bridges on-premises file storage with S3 and provides mount points (shares) via NFS for Linux systems and SMB for Windows systems?

Answer 33

AWS File Storage Gateway

Question 34

Which AWS Storage Gateway type stores files as objects directly in an S3 bucket, making them visible unlike other types where data is stored in raw format in AWS-managed S3 areas?

Answer 34

AWS File Storage Gateway

Question 35

How does AWS File Storage Gateway link file shares to S3 buckets?

Answer 35

Each file share is directly mapped to a single S3 bucket, establishing a one-to-one connection

Question 36

What protocols can be used to access file shares in AWS File Storage Gateway?

Answer 36

- NFS (for Linux) - SMB (for Windows)

Question 37

Which AWS Storage Gateway type integrates with directory authentication?

Answer 37

AWS File Storage Gateway

Question 38

Which AWS Storage Gateway type uses local storage as a read-and-write cache for improved performance?

Answer 38

AWS File Storage Gateway, providing LAN-like performance through caching

Question 39

What is the maximum number of file shares supported by AWS File Storage Gateway?

Answer 39

Up to 50 file shares per File Storage Gateway

Question 40

When using AWS File Storage Gateway, is the directory structure of on-premises file shares maintained in the corresponding S3 object names?

Answer 40

Yes, the structure of file shares is reflected in the S3 object names

Question 41

Does AWS File Storage Gateway store data locally on-premises?

Answer 41

No, data is stored in AWS S3, only cache is stored locally to enhance performance

Question 42

What additional benefits does AWS File Storage Gateway gain from storing files in S3?

Answer 42

Files in S3 allow access to features such as: - S3 Events with Lambda triggers - Lifecycle Policies for automated transitions and deletions - Cross-Region Replication for disaster recovery

Question 43

What API is used by AWS File Storage Gateway to notify other gateways when objects are updated?

Answer 43

NotifyWhenUploaded API

Question 44

Does AWS File Storage Gateway support object locking?

Answer 44

No, but you can enable read-only mode on shares or tightly control file access to achieve similar restrictions

Question 45

How can AWS File Storage Gateway enable a multi-region disaster recovery solution?

Answer 45

By configuring cross-region replication from source to destination S3 buckets

Question 46

What S3 feature can AWS File Storage Gateway use to optimize object storage?

Answer 46

Lifecycle Policies, which allow moving objects to different S3 storage classes based on rules

Question 47

Can multiple AWS File Storage Gateways create bucket shares with the same S3 bucket?

Answer 47

Yes, this enables distributed access to the same files from multiple on-premises locations

Question 48

What are the primary use cases for AWS File Storage Gateway?

Answer 48

Extending on-premises file storage to AWS S3

Question 49

How can you determine which AWS Storage Gateway type (Volume, Tape, File) fits your use case?

Answer 49

- Volume Gateway: Best suits for volume storage types using iSCSI, NFS (Linux), or SMB (Windows) protocols - Tape Gateway: Ideal for tape backups using the iSCSI protocol - File Gateway: Suited for file storage over NFS (Linux) or SMB (Windows) protocols