Use FSx for NetApp ONTAP in the DR Region with SnapMirror replication from the primary Region
A company is migrating its on-premises Windows applications and Linux applications to AWS. The company will use automation to launch Amazon EC2 instances to mirror the on-premises configurations. The migrated applications require access to shared storage that uses SMB for Windows and NFS for Linux. The company is also creating a pilot light disaster recovery (DR) environment in another AWS Region. The company will use automation to launch and configure the EC2 instances in the DR Region. The company needs to replicate the storage to the DR Region. Which storage solution will meet these requirements?
Community Votes
100% of anonymous learners picked answer D. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.
Community Insight
The two hard requirements are dual-protocol shared storage and cross-Region replication of that storage, and only FSx for NetApp ONTAP satisfies both: it natively serves SMB for Windows and NFS for Linux from one file system, and SnapMirror is ONTAP's native replication mechanism for keeping a secondary copy current (D). Option A uses S3, which is an object store with no SMB or NFS file-system semantics. Option B's EBS volumes attach to single instances and cannot be shared by many Windows and Linux hosts. Option C's Volume Gateway is a block-backed gateway to iSCSI volumes and has no native cross-Region replication of the gateway.
The migrated workloads include both Windows applications requiring SMB and Linux applications requiring NFS on shared storage, and a pilot light DR environment in a second Region must be provisioned and kept in sync. Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP speaks both SMB and NFS from a single managed file system, so one storage service serves both operating systems. Creating an FSx for ONTAP instance in the DR Region and configuring NetApp SnapMirror replication from the primary Region keeps the data continuously synchronized using ONTAP's own efficient, incremental replication.
Using Amazon S3 for the application storage with cross-Region replication (A) — S3 is an object store reached over HTTPS and offers no SMB or NFS file-system access, so Windows and Linux applications expecting a mounted shared file system cannot use it. Using EBS volumes with an AWS Backup plan (B) — an EBS volume attaches to a single EC2 instance, so it cannot serve as shared storage for many instances running both operating systems. Using a Volume Gateway in AWS Storage Gateway with cross-Region replication (C) — a Volume Gateway presents iSCSI block volumes and provides no native cross-Region replication of the gateway itself, so the DR copy would have to be built by other means.
Community Discussion (4 comments)
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Expert Analysis
Why the Answer Is Correct
The scenario has three requirements: shared storage accessible over SMB for the Windows applications, shared storage accessible over NFS for the Linux applications, and that storage replicated to a pilot light DR Region. Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP meets the first two simultaneously because a single managed ONTAP file system provides multi-protocol access over NFS, SMB, and iSCSI, so Windows and Linux clients mount the same storage with their native protocols rather than requiring two different storage services. For the third, creating an FSx for ONTAP instance in the DR Region and configuring NetApp SnapMirror replication from the primary Region uses ONTAP's native, incremental, deduplicating replication to keep the secondary copy continuously current, which suits a pilot light configuration where the DR file system stands ready but is kept in sync (D). D is the correct answer.Why the Other Options Are Wrong
A uses Amazon S3 for the application storage with S3 Cross-Region Replication. S3 is an object store accessed over HTTPS; it provides no SMB or NFS file-system semantics, so applications that expect to mount a shared file system over SMB or NFS cannot use it as described. B uses Amazon EBS volumes with an AWS Backup plan replicating snapshots to the DR Region. An EBS volume attaches to exactly one EC2 instance, so it cannot serve as shared storage across multiple Windows and Linux instances, and snapshot replication is a backup mechanism rather than a live shared file system. C uses a Volume Gateway in AWS Storage Gateway with cross-Region replication of the gateway. A Volume Gateway presents block volumes over iSCSI and does not offer native cross-Region replication of the gateway or its volumes, so it does not satisfy the SMB and NFS requirement and does not provide the DR replication path as described. D is correct.Community Comment Notes
Community voted D unanimously. jamesf quoted the documentation that Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP supports multi-protocol access using NFS, SMB, iSCSI, and iSCSI, which is what makes it the only option serving both Windows and Linux. TEC1 made the same point, noting that support for both SMB and NFS makes it suitable for both application sets. trungtd broke out the two properties, full SMB support for the Windows applications and full NFS support for the Linux applications, plus the SnapMirror replication to the DR Region. No alternative received support.Official Reference
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