AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) — Question 501

A company has multiple Windows file servers on premises. The company wants to migrate and consolidate its files into an Amazon FSx for Windows File Server file system. File permissions must be preserved to ensure that access rights do not change.

Which solutions will meet these requirements? (Choose two.)

Answer options

• A. Deploy AWS DataSync agents on premises. Schedule DataSync tasks to transfer the data to the FSx for Windows File Server file system.
• B. Copy the shares on each file server into Amazon S3 buckets by using the AWS CLI. Schedule AWS DataSync tasks to transfer the data to the FSx for Windows File Server file system.
• C. Remove the drives from each file server. Ship the drives to AWS for import into Amazon S3. Schedule AWS DataSync tasks to transfer the data to the FSx for Windows File Server file system.
• D. Order an AWS Snowcone device. Connect the device to the on-premises network. Launch AWS DataSync agents on the device. Schedule DataSync tasks to transfer the data to the FSx for Windows File Server file system.
• E. Order an AWS Snowball Edge Storage Optimized device. Connect the device to the on-premises network. Copy data to the device by using the AWS CLI. Ship the device back to AWS for import into Amazon S3. Schedule AWS DataSync tasks to transfer the data to the FSx for Windows File Server file system.

Correct answer: A, D

Explanation

AWS DataSync natively supports preserving Windows NTFS permissions, ownership, and ACLs when copying data directly to Amazon FSx for Windows File Server. This can be achieved either by deploying a DataSync agent on-premises or by using an AWS Snowcone device, which has a pre-installed DataSync agent for WAN-disabled or bandwidth-constrained environments. Solutions involving intermediate staging in Amazon S3 (Options B, C, and E) do not natively preserve Windows NTFS file permissions during the transfer process.