AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C02) — Question 734

A company runs multiple Windows workloads on AWS. The company's employees use Windows file shares that are hosted on two Amazon EC2 instances. The file shares synchronize data between themselves and maintain duplicate copies. The company wants a highly available and durable storage solution that preserves how users currently access the files.
What should a solutions architect do to meet these requirements?

Answer options

• A. Migrate all the data to Amazon S3. Set up IAM authentication for users to access files.
• B. Set up an Amazon S3 File Gateway. Mount the S3 File Gateway on the existing EC2 instances.
• C. Extend the file share environment to Amazon FSx for Windows File Server with a Multi-AZ configuration. Migrate all the data to FSx for Windows File Server.
• D. Extend the file share environment to Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) with a Multi-AZ configuration. Migrate all the data to Amazon EFS.

Correct answer: C

Explanation

Amazon FSx for Windows File Server provides fully managed Windows file shares that natively support the SMB protocol and integrate with Active Directory, making it the ideal replacement to preserve how users access files. A Multi-AZ configuration ensures high availability and durability across availability zones. Other options like Amazon S3 and Amazon EFS are not natively suited for standard Windows file sharing protocols (SMB) in this context.