AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional — Question 1007

A company is using Amazon WorkSpaces to provide access to its corporate applications across multiple global locations. User profile data is stored on an
Amazon FSx for Windows File Server file system that is configured with a DNS alias. The file system is linked to an existing Active Directory service.
Recently, the company added a new application that unexpectedly caused user profiles to grow significantly. The company increased the FSx for Windows File
Server file system size from 3 TiB to 6 TiB to prevent any issues. A few days later, the company made changes to the application's configuration. The user profile storage usage decreased significantly, leaving a large amount of free space on the file system. A solutions architect needs to reduce the size of the file system to avoid unnecessary costs.
What should the solutions architect do to achieve this goal?

Answer options

• A. During an agreed upon maintenance window, use AWS Backup to create a point-in-time backup of the file system. Restore the backup to a new, smaller FSx for Windows File Server file system. Adjust the DNS alias after the restore is completed. Delete the original file system.
• B. During an agreed upon maintenance window, disconnect users from the file system. In the Amazon FSx console, update the storage capacity of the file system. Enter an absolute value of 3 TiB. Reconnect users to the file system.
• C. Deploy an AWS DataSyne agent onto a new Amazon EC2 instance. Create a DataSync task. Configure the existing file system as the source location. Configure a new, smaller FSx for Windows File Server file system as the target location. Schedule the task. Adjust the DNS alias after the task is completed. Delete the original file system.
• D. Enable shadow copies on the existing file system by using a Windows PowerShell command. Schedule a shadow copy job to create a point-in-time backup of the file system. Choose to restore previous versions, and create a new, smaller FSx for Windows File Server file system. Adjust the DNS alias after the copy job is completed. Delete the original file system.

Correct answer: C

Explanation

Amazon FSx for Windows File Server supports increasing storage capacity, but it does not allow you to decrease the capacity of an existing file system. To reduce the size, you must deploy a new, smaller FSx file system and migrate the data. AWS DataSync is the recommended service for this migration because it efficiently copies files while preserving security permissions and metadata, whereas AWS Backup does not support restoring a backup to a smaller file system than the original.