Which AWS Solution Lets You Use NFS to Store and Retrieve Objects in Amazon S3?

CLF-C02 By islever Editorial Last updated

Identify AWS storage services. Identify services from other in-scope AWS service categories.

Short answer

C AWS Storage Gateway file gateway presents Amazon S3 objects as NFS/SMB file shares for on-premises applications.

Question

Which AWS solution gives companies the ability to use protocols such as NFS to store and retrieve objects in Amazon S3?
  1. Amazon FSx for Lustre
  2. AWS Storage Gateway volume gateway
  3. AWS Storage Gateway file gateway Correct Answer
  4. Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS)

Key Takeaways

The question tests whether you can separate protocol support from purpose: FSx for Lustre also speaks NFS and links to S3, but the file gateway is the service purpose-built to present S3 buckets as NFS/SMB file shares.

AWS Storage Gateway file gateway is the service that exposes Amazon S3 objects to on-premises applications through standard file protocols such as NFS and SMB. This page confirms why the file gateway — not FSx for Lustre, the volume gateway, or Amazon EFS — is the correct answer for storing and retrieving S3 objects over NFS.

Common mistake: Picking FSx for Lustre because it lists NFS support and S3 integration; however, FSx for Lustre is an HPC-optimized, S3-backed file system for compute workloads, not a gateway that mounts an S3 bucket as a durable file share.

Expert Analysis

Why the Answer Is Correct

AWS Storage Gateway file gateway is a hybrid storage service that presents an Amazon S3 bucket through standard file protocols, including NFS (v3 and v4.1) and SMB, so on-premises or EC2 applications can read and write S3 objects as ordinary files. Objects written through the file share are stored as objects in S3, and local caching accelerates frequently accessed data while the bucket remains the source of truth. That direct mapping between a file-protocol front end and S3 object storage is exactly what the question describes: using protocols such as NFS to store and retrieve objects in Amazon S3. Marley captured the intent succinctly, noting that the file gateway "allows you to use NFS to access objects in S3."

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

Amazon FSx for Lustre (A) is a managed, high-performance parallel file system for HPC, ML, and compute-intensive workloads; although it supports NFS and can link to an S3 bucket to read or write data, that link behaves as a caching/lazy-loading layer for the file system rather than a general-purpose file interface onto S3. As veljkosbbb put it, FSx for Lustre is "primarily intended for use cases requiring high-performance computing (HPC) and parallel data processing," which is not the scenario in the question. Kilobay1 argued for A on the basis that FSx for Lustre "supports the Network File System (NFS) protocol and can be linked to Amazon S3," which is true but describes an optimization feature, not the service's core purpose. AWS Storage Gateway volume gateway (B) presents block storage (iSCSI) backed by S3 snapshots, so it does not offer NFS at all. Amazon EFS (D) is a scalable NFS file system for Linux workloads across AWS compute services, but it does not store and retrieve objects in an S3 bucket.

Community Comment Notes

Community sentiment aligns strongly with the file gateway, and two commenters restated it plainly — ShaiTay simply posted "AWS Storage Gateway file gateway," and Meow7 confirmed "c is correct" before asking for help with unrelated discussion questions. veljkosbbb gave the most useful reasoning, drawing the line between FSx for Lustre's compute-oriented design and the gateway's role of exposing S3 over NFS. Kilobay1's counter-argument for FSx for Lustre is worth reading because it shows the exact trap: NFS support plus S3 linkage exists on both services, so the deciding factor is the service's intended purpose, not a feature checklist. Taken together, the comments reinforce that purpose (presenting S3 as files) beats incidental capability (caching S3 into a fast file system).

Official Reference

These links open the official vendor documentation in a new tab.

Exam Strategy

When two options both mention NFS and S3, ask which service exists to expose S3 as a file share versus which one uses S3 as a performance accelerator. For CLF-C02 hybrid-storage scenarios, map the keyword NFS/SMB plus on-premises access to "file gateway," and block (iSCSI) access to "volume gateway."

Frequently Asked Questions

Why isn't Amazon FSx for Lustre (A) the answer if it also supports NFS and links to S3?

FSx for Lustre is an HPC-oriented file system that uses S3 as a linked data repository or cache for compute workloads; it is not designed to mount an S3 bucket as a general file share over NFS.

How does the volume gateway (B) differ from the file gateway for S3 access?

The volume gateway serves block storage over iSCSI with S3-backed snapshots, so it never presents NFS or SMB file shares the way the file gateway does.

More CLF-C02 FAQ →

Community Votes

C
80%
A
20%

80% of anonymous learners picked answer C. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 5 contributions

Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.

From public community threads 5

  1. veljkosbbb 👍 2 Answered C
    While Amazon FSx for Lustre supports NFS and can integrate with Amazon S3 for high-performance workloads (such as caching data from S3), it is primarily intended for use cases requiring high-performance computing (HPC) and parallel data processing. Its purpose is to optimize compute-heavy tasks by providing a fast file system that can process large-scale data, not to serve as a storage gateway solution for seamlessly storing and retrieving data from S3 via NFS. The correct answer was C. AWS Storage Gateway file gateway, because AWS Storage Gateway file gateway is specifically designed to allow companies to use NFS (or SMB) protocols to store and retrieve data directly in S3. It acts as a bridge between on-premises environments and Amazon S3, enabling easy integration for businesses that want to store their files as objects in S3.
  2. Kilobay1 👍 1 Answered A
    Amazon FSx for Lustre is a managed file system that provides a high-performance file system optimized for compute-intensive workloads. It supports the Network File System (NFS) protocol and can be linked to Amazon S3. When you create an Amazon FSx for Lustre file system, you can link it to an S3 bucket, enabling you to access objects in S3 using the NFS protocol. AWS Storage Gateway file gateway might seem like a good candidate due to its support for NFS, but it’s important to note that Amazon FSx for Lustre provides a more integrated and performant solution for linking file systems with S3, particularly for use cases requiring high-performance compute.
  3. Marley 👍 1 Answered C
    C. AWS Storage Gateway file gateway The file gateway allows you to use NFS to access objects in S3, enabling file-based applications to seamlessly interact with S3 storage.
  4. Meow7 👍 1
    c is correct. please help with discussion on 534 ~ 540
  5. ShaiTay 👍 1 Answered C
    C. AWS Storage Gateway file gateway

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