What is AWS Elastic File System (EFS)?

AWS Elastic File System (EFS) is a scalable, fully managed, elastic NFS file system for AWS cloud and on-premises resources. It automatically scales as you add and remove files, providing shared file storage that can be mounted concurrently by multiple EC2 instances across multiple availability zones.

How do I create an AWS Elastic File System?

To create an AWS EFS, go to the EFS console, click 'Create file system', select your VPC, choose performance mode (General Purpose or Max I/O), set throughput mode (Bursting or Provisioned), configure lifecycle management, and click Create. Then create mount targets in each availability zone where your EC2 instances reside.

What is the difference between AWS EFS and EBS?

AWS EFS is a shared file system that can be mounted by multiple EC2 instances simultaneously across availability zones, scaling automatically. EBS is a block storage volume attached to a single EC2 instance in one availability zone. EFS is ideal for shared workloads; EBS is better for single-instance, high-performance storage.

How much does AWS Elastic File System cost?

AWS EFS pricing is based on storage used per month. Standard storage costs approximately $0.30 per GB-month, while Infrequent Access storage (EFS-IA) costs about $0.025 per GB-month with data access charges. Using lifecycle management to automatically move files to EFS-IA can significantly reduce costs for infrequently accessed data.

What Is AWS EFS (Elastic File System)? Features & How to Create One

July 2, 2020 / Nirav Shah

What Is AWS EFS (Elastic File System)? Features & Benefits

Benefits

POSIX-compliant shared file storage
Scalable performance
Dynamic elasticity
Fully managed
Cost-effective
Security and compliance