AWS Certified Data Engineer – AssociateData Ingestion and TransformationHard
A pharmaceutical company needs to ingest experimental results from laboratory instruments into an Amazon S3 data lake. The data is generated as various file types (CSV, XML, proprietary binary formats) and stored in network shares (SMB) on-premises. The transfer needs to be initiated by lab technicians on demand, requiring a user-friendly interface. Data volumes can vary from small to large files, and secure transfer is paramount. Which AWS service provides a simple, secure, and on-demand way for users to transfer files from on-premises SMB shares to S3?
- AAWS Amplify
- BAWS Transfer Family
- CAWS DataSync
- DAWS Storage Gateway (File Gateway)
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. AWS Storage Gateway (File Gateway)
AWS Storage Gateway's File Gateway provides an SMB/NFS interface on-premises that maps directly to Amazon S3. This allows lab technicians to simply drag-and-drop files to a network share, and File Gateway securely and efficiently uploads them to S3. It simplifies the user experience for on-demand file transfers while leveraging S3 for storage.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. AWS Amplify is for building web and mobile applications, not for on-premises file ingestion to S3.
- B. AWS Transfer Family provides SFTP/FTPS/FTP endpoints to S3, but requires client-side tools and isn't a direct SMB share mapping.
- C. AWS DataSync is for automated, large-scale, and often scheduled transfers, not typically for individual user-initiated, on-demand file transfers via a local network share.
AWS Storage Gateway (File Gateway)
A hybrid cloud storage service that provides on-premises applications with file-based access to cloud storage (S3) using standard file protocols like NFS and SMB.
- Acts as a cache for frequently accessed data on-premises.
- Translates standard file protocols (SMB/NFS) to S3 object storage.
- Enables easy integration of on-premises applications with S3.
Memory trick: File Gateway bridges on-prem shares to S3, making it feel local.