How do you use NFS with cloud storage services like AWS or Azure?

1 Benefits of NFS in the cloud

Using NFS in the cloud can provide many advantages, such as scalability, cost-efficiency, and flexibility. With NFS, you can easily adjust the size of your volumes to meet your needs without compromising performance or availability. Additionally, you only pay for the storage space and resources that you use and can take advantage of cloud provider features like backup, encryption, and security. Furthermore, NFS volumes can be accessed from any instance or device that supports NFS, regardless of operating system or location.

2 Challenges of NFS in the cloud

Using NFS in the cloud can present some challenges, such as higher latency and lower throughput than on-premise solutions due to network configuration and the distance between instances and the server. Additionally, not all cloud services support NFS natively, requiring third-party tools or services to enable it. Moreover, there are potential issues with reliability, such as network failures, server outages, or data corruption that could affect the availability and integrity of NFS volumes.

3 How to use NFS with AWS

Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) is a fully managed service from AWS that provides NFS-compatible file storage for cloud instances. This service allows you to create and mount NFS volumes with automated scaling and multi-availability zone support. To use EFS, you must create an EFS file system in the AWS console or through the AWS CLI or SDK, create a mount target in each availability zone, configure the security groups and network access control lists (NACLs) to enable inbound and outbound traffic on the NFS port (2049), and mount the file system on your instances with either the mount command or the NFS client.

4 How to use NFS with Azure

Azure offers a service called Azure Files that provides SMB-compatible file storage for your cloud instances. Additionally, Azure Files supports NFS version 4.1 (NFSv4.1) for Linux instances, though it is currently in preview mode and has some limitations. To use Azure Files with NFS, you must create a storage account in the Azure portal or using the Azure CLI or SDK, create a file share in your storage account and enable NFSv4.1 protocol, generate an access key or a SAS token for your file share, and mount the file share on your instances using the mount command or the NFS client. Reporting and documenting the incident will help you inform and reassure the stakeholders, as well as provide valuable insights for improving your cloud security posture.

5 Best practices for NFS in the cloud

To ensure optimal performance and security of your NFS volumes in the cloud, it is important to monitor your network bandwidth and latency and adjust your file system size and configuration accordingly. Additionally, you should encrypt your data at rest and in transit using the cloud provider's features or your own encryption tools. Furthermore, backing up your data regularly and using snapshots or versioning to restore your files in case of data loss or corruption is essential. Lastly, IAM roles or policies should be used to control who can access your file systems and what actions they can perform.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?