How design AWS storage volume for file sharing

The operating system for the the machines is RHEL and Windows which is what AWS mostly supports.

I think FSx can only be accessed by Windows machines. Does this mean we should create EFS volume so both machine can mount and access?

Yes, that’s correct.

so EFS can be mounted by both Linux and Windows machines while FSx can only be mounted by Windows machines (not Linux machines).

If that is correct, setting FSx file share will not work/

Yes - that’s correct.

If you want to use both Linux and Windows, then use EFS as FSx will not work on Linux

Please take a look at this. It seems Amazon has EBS multi-attach feature that allows multiple machine to mount EBS IOPS volume.
They also mention that EFS is not compatible with windows. I am not sure if this is accurate.

https://pilotcoresystems.com/insights/ebs-efs-fsx-s3-how-these-storage-options-differ/#:~:text=EFS%20works%20with%20Linux%20and,with%20all%20Window%20Server%20platforms.

While most EBS volumes can only bind to one server at a time, the launch of Amazon EBS Multi-Attach as outlined in this announcement for provisioned IOPS volumes offers greater flexibility in some scenarios. AWS EBS multi-attach allows you to connect a single EBS volume to multiple instances of supported types, a feature that has been long awaited by many.

EFS is not compatible with Windows.

Yes -I’ve just had a good read and the AWS EFS is not compatible with windows!

Its seems the S3 is often used and may be a good option:

https://www.nakivo.com/blog/mount-amazon-s3-as-a-drive-how-to-guide/

From what I can see, the EBS Multi-attach does have some limitations - and looks only to be supported on Windows Servers rather than workstations:

“In order to access an EBS volume from multiple instances, the operating system must support a cluster file system, such as the Microsoft Cluster Shared Volume (CSV), which is only available on Windows Server instances. Without support for a cluster file system, it would not be possible for multiple instances to access the same EBS volume simultaneously without causing data inconsistencies.”

https://www.bdrsuite.com/blog/aws-for-beginners-a-guide-to-enable-multi-attach-for-ebs-volumes-part-17/

From an AWS training class I took, S3 bucket is not for File sharing. It is more to store static backups, logs, etc.
They said EFS and FSx are the two file shares to be used for sharing.

Hi,

I’ve flagged this question for more assistance as I’m not sure I can help any further - and you would benefit from someone with more knowledge.

Hi
It does not seem there any AWS storage experts on the site. However, it seems based on this page the only storage solution would be "FSx for windows File Server" which can be mounted by both Linux and windows machines.

https://tutorialsdojo.com/amazon-efs-vs-amazon-fsx-for-windows-vs-amazon-fsx-for-lustre/#:~:text=FSx%20for%20Lustre%20can%20only,system%20using%20standard%20Linux%20commands.

Yes, FSx for Windows file Server' is probably your best bet here.... This is an extract from the following AWS blog post: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/storage/access-file-shares-on-amazon-fsx-for-windows-file-server-from-a-linux-environment/

Amazon FSx for Windows File Server (Amazon FSx) supports access from mixed Windows and Linux environments by fully supporting the SMB protocol. This includes access from Linux using the Linux SMB client. It allows customers to easily move their shared file storage to the cloud and provides a fully managed, native Windows File Server on AWS. It automatically takes care of setup and provisioning, replication, failover, and maintenance. Moreover, it supports SMB protocol, Windows NTFS, and Active Directory integration, both on-premises integration and in-cloud.

Someone mentioned Windows for ONTAP. Are you familiar with this solution? it seems a different operating system than windows

https://aws.amazon.com/fsx/netapp-ontap/

Excellent Answer and link about different filesystems used for Fsx.