AWS Storage Gateway: Overview and Key Features

Explore AWS Storage Gateway, a service that connects on-premises IT environments with AWS cloud storage. Learn about Volume Gateways, Tape Gateways, and key operations for seamless data integration and management.

AWS Storage Gateway: Overview and Key Features

AWS Storage Gateway bridges on-premises IT environments with AWS cloud storage, offering scalable, secure, and cost-efficient storage solutions. It provides two main types of storage: Volume Gateways and Tape Gateways.

Volume Gateways

Volume Gateways offer cloud-backed storage volumes that can be mounted as iSCSI devices from on-premises application servers. They come in two types:

Gateway-Cached Volumes

  • Storage in Amazon S3: Stores data in Amazon S3, with volumes ranging from 1 GB to 32 TB, and up to 20 volumes totaling 150 TB.
  • Cache Storage Disk: Temporarily holds data before uploading it to Amazon S3, providing low-latency access to frequently used data.
  • Upload Buffer Disk: Stores data before uploading it to Amazon S3 over a secure SSL connection.
  • Snapshots: Incremental backups stored in Amazon S3, backing up only changed data since the last snapshot.

Gateway-Stored Volumes

  • Primary Data Stored Locally: Data is stored on local disks, providing low-latency access while being asynchronously backed up to AWS.
  • Size and Capacity: Volumes range from 1 GB to 16 TB, supporting up to 12 volumes per gateway, totaling 192 TB.

Gateway-Virtual Tape Library (VTL)

The Gateway-VTL provides a virtual tape infrastructure, removing the need for physical tape management and integrating with AWS cloud services:

Virtual Tape Components

  • Virtual Tape: Acts like a physical tape cartridge, stored in the AWS cloud. Sizes range from 100 GB to 2.5 TB, with up to 1500 tapes totaling 150 TB per gateway.
  • Virtual Tape Library (VTL): Functions like a physical tape library with tape drives. Data is stored locally first and then asynchronously uploaded to virtual tapes.
  • Tape Drive: Virtual equivalent of a physical tape drive, performing I/O operations on virtual tapes.
  • Media Changer: Simulates the robot in a physical tape library, moving tapes around in storage slots and tape drives.
  • Virtual Tape Shelf (VTS): Used for archiving and retrieving tapes from the cloud. Archived tapes in VTS cannot be read directly and must be retrieved to a VTL for access.

Key Operations

  • Archiving Tapes: Tapes ejected by backup software are moved to the VTS for long-term storage.
  • Retrieving Tapes: Archived tapes in the VTS must be retrieved back to the VTL for reading, which can be done using the AWS Storage Gateway console or API.

AWS Storage Gateway provides a seamless and scalable way to integrate on-premises storage with AWS cloud, offering flexible options for backup, archiving, and data management.