Amazon Storage Gateway Guide

Overview

Amazon Storage Gateway is a virtual machine solution that:

• Can be run on-premises or on EC2

• Provides local storage resources backed by S3 and Glacier

• Enables data synchronization between on-premises and AWS cloud storage

• Includes bandwidth throttling capabilities

Core Use Cases

1. Disaster Recovery

   • Using AWS as a "hot site"

   • Facilitating failover capabilities

   • Maintaining synchronized cloud backups

2. Cloud Migration

   • Gradual data synchronization to AWS

   • Enables phased transition to cloud resources

   • Reduces on-premises storage requirements over time

Gateway Modes

1. File Gateway

• Current name: File Gateway

• Exposes volumes as NFS or SMB shares

• Compatible with various operating systems

• Backend replication to S3

2. Volume Gateway Stored Mode

• Old name: Gateway-stored volumes

• Features:

  • iSCSI interface

  • Asynchronous replication to S3

  • Primary data stored on-premises

  • Background synchronization to cloud

3. Volume Gateway Cached Mode

• Old name: Gateway-cached volumes

• Features:

  • iSCSI interface

  • Primary data stored on S3

  • Local caching of recently accessed files

  • Reduced on-premises storage requirements

4. Tape Gateway

• Old name: Gateway virtual tape library

• Features:

  • iSCSI interface

  • Virtual media changer

  • Virtual tape library

  • Compatible with popular backup software

  • Check documentation for specific software compatibility

Implementation Example: Remote Office Scenario

Setup

• Uses cached volume mode

• Provides synchronized file experience

• Suitable for offices with limited bandwidth

Benefits

• Data stored on S3 with high durability (11 nines)

• Local caching for frequently accessed data

• Bandwidth throttling to prevent network saturation

• Efficient remote office access to cloud storage

Migration Strategy Example

1. Start with Volume Gateway stored mode

2. Gradually synchronize data to S3

3. Switch to cached mode

4. Reduce on-premises storage

5. Complete transition to cloud storage as needed