High Availability for Amazon FSx: Ensuring Data Store Reliability

High Availability for Amazon FSx

Question

The Development Team is planning to use Amazon FSx for Windows File Server for storing windows-based application data.

This critical application needs to be highly available.

The Operations Lead is concerned about the availability of the data store within Amazon FSx servers. Which is the correct statement for high availability for Amazon FSx?

Answers

Explanations

Click on the arrows to vote for the correct answer

A. B. C. D.

Correct Answer: B.

With Multi-AZ deployment, active and standby servers are placed in separate AZ.

Data written to an active server is synchronously replicated to standby servers.

With Synchronous replication, data is written to active and standby servers simultaneously, while with asynchronous replication, there might be a lag between data written to active servers and standby servers.

Synchronous Replication is advantageous during failover where standby servers are in sync with active servers.

Option A is incorrect as with Multi-AZ deployment, active and standby servers must be placed in Multi-AZ, not in a single AZ.

Option C is incorrect as with Multi-AZ deployment, active and standby servers must be placed in Multi-AZ, not in a single AZ.

Option D is incorrect as with Multi-AZ deployment, replication between active and standby servers must be synchronous and not asynchronous.

For more information on high availability for Amazon FSx, refer to the following URL,

https://aws.amazon.com/fsx/windows/features/?nc=sn&loc=2

Amazon FSx for Windows File Server is a fully managed file storage service built on Windows Server. It provides shared file storage for Windows-based applications using the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. When deploying Amazon FSx for Windows File Server, it is essential to ensure that the storage is highly available to maintain application uptime and performance.

In the context of high availability, Amazon FSx for Windows File Server provides a failover capability between an active and standby instance. In this configuration, there are two options for the placement of the active and standby servers:

A. Active and Standby Servers for Amazon FSx are placed in a single AZ, with synchronous replication between active and standby servers.

B. Active and Standby Servers for Amazon FSx are placed in different AZ, with synchronous replication between active and standby servers.

Option A involves placing the active and standby servers in a single availability zone (AZ). In this configuration, synchronous replication is established between the active and standby servers. Synchronous replication ensures that all data changes made to the active server are written to the standby server before they are committed. This configuration ensures high availability and minimal data loss in the event of a failure.

Option B involves placing the active and standby servers in different AZs. In this configuration, synchronous replication is also established between the active and standby servers. The advantage of this configuration is that it provides protection against a single AZ failure, which could potentially impact both the active and standby instances if they were placed in the same AZ.

Option C involves placing the active and standby servers in a single AZ, with asynchronous replication between the active and standby servers. Asynchronous replication means that data changes made to the active server are written to the standby server after they are committed. This configuration provides less protection against data loss than synchronous replication, as some data changes may be lost in the event of a failure.

Option D involves placing the active and standby servers in different AZs, with asynchronous replication between the active and standby servers. This configuration provides protection against a single AZ failure, but with a higher risk of data loss due to asynchronous replication.

In conclusion, for high availability in Amazon FSx for Windows File Server, Option A or Option B is recommended, depending on the specific needs of the application and the level of protection required against AZ failures.