AWS Storage Gateway Specialized2012年〜
A hybrid storage service that seamlessly connects on-premises environments to AWS storage
What It Does
AWS Storage Gateway is a hybrid storage service that gives on-premises applications seamless access to AWS cloud storage. You deploy a gateway as a virtual machine or hardware appliance on-premises, providing standard storage protocols like NFS, SMB, and iSCSI. Data is cached locally while automatically stored in S3, EBS, or Glacier on the backend.
Use Cases
Automatically transferring on-premises backup data to S3 or Glacier, migrating existing file servers to the cloud (NFS/SMB shares backed by S3), offsite backup for disaster recovery, and low-latency cloud storage access from on-premises applications.
Everyday Analogy
Think of an automated transport system connecting your bookshelf to a large warehouse. Books you read often stay on your shelf (local cache), while finished books are automatically sent to the warehouse (S3). When you need a warehouse book, the system retrieves it automatically.
What Is AWS Storage Gateway?
AWS Storage Gateway bridges on-premises environments and AWS cloud storage. Many organizations have existing on-premises applications and workflows that can't be immediately migrated to the cloud. Storage Gateway provides standard storage interfaces to on-premises applications while storing data in AWS storage services, leveraging cloud durability and scalability with minimal application changes.
Gateway Types
Storage Gateway comes in three types. S3 File Gateway stores files to S3 via NFS/SMB protocols, functioning as a file server replacement. Volume Gateway provides block storage via iSCSI in two modes: cached (frequently accessed data cached locally) and stored (all data kept locally with S3 backup). Tape Gateway operates as a virtual tape library (VTL), storing tape backups to S3 Glacier from existing backup software. To deepen your understanding of gateway types, technical books on Amazon are a helpful resource.
Deployment and Caching
Storage Gateway can be deployed as a virtual machine on VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, or Linux KVM on-premises, or as an AWS-provided hardware appliance. Deployment as an EC2 instance is also possible. The gateway maintains a local cache disk for low-latency access to frequently used data. Data transfers are encrypted, and communication with AWS is SSL-protected.
Things to Watch Out For
- Billed based on gateway uptime and data transfer volume, plus backend S3 or EBS charges
- Insufficient local cache size leads to frequent cloud data retrieval and performance degradation - size your cache generously
- Network bandwidth between on-premises and AWS is often a bottleneck. Consider AWS Snowball for large initial data transfers
