Working with EFS
Learn about Amazon EFS integrations with EC2 and Lambda to enable scalable, shared file storage for distributed applications. The focus will be on setup, security, and best practices for performance and cost optimization.
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Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) offers fully managed, scalable, and elastic file storage that integrates deeply with other AWS compute services, especially Amazon EC2 and AWS Lambda. By mounting EFS to EC2 instances or connecting it to Lambda functions, we can provide multiple resources with simultaneous, low-latency access to a consistent file system. This integration is essential for building distributed applications that require shared storage, such as web server clusters, analytics pipelines, or workflows handling large files.
In this lesson, we’ll explore how EFS works with EC2, the step-by-step process of mounting EFS, security considerations, integration with Lambda for persistent function storage, and best practices for monitoring and optimizing EFS in production environments.
How Amazon EFS works with EC2
Amazon EC2 and Amazon EFS work together seamlessly to provide shared storage for scalable, distributed applications. When we mount an EFS file system to one or more EC2 instances, those instances can read and write to the same file system concurrently. This enables scenarios like web server clusters, centralized logging, content management systems, and any application requiring a consistent file system state across compute nodes.
EFS is exposed to EC2 instances using the NFSv4.1 or NFSv4.2 protocol. The only requirement is that the EC2 instance be within the same VPC or have appropriate routing to reach the EFS mount targets.
Tip: Mount targets are regional, and AWS recommends placing one in each Availability Zone for high availability and lower latency.
Mounting Amazon EFS on Linux-based EC2 instances
Start by making sure our EC2 instance is in the same VPC as the EFS mount target, or has appropriate network connectivity (via VPC peering or Transit Gateway if needed). Also, ensure that the instance’s security group allows outbound access to the EFS mount target’s IP and that the EFS mount target’s security group allows inbound NFS traffic (port 2049).
Here’s how we can mount EFS on a Linux-based EC2 instance in a few simple steps:
1. Install the Amazon EFS ...