What is Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) and how does it work?

Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) provides a simple, scalable, fully managed, elastic NFS file system for use with AWS Cloud services and on-premises resources. 

Amazon EFS is easy to use and offers a simple interface that allows you to create and configure file systems quickly and easily.

Performance that scales to support any workload: EFS offers the throughput changing workloads need. It can provide higher throughput in spurts that match sudden file system growth, even for workloads up to 500,000 IOPS or 10 GB per second.

Energetic elasticity: Automatically scale your file system storage up or down. Remove or add files and never disturb applications. Once you make your EFS file system you can add files without worrying about storage provisioning.

Accessible file storage: On-premises servers and EC2 instances can access shared file systems concurrently. EC2 instances can also access EFS file systems located in other AWS regions through VPC peering.

Comprehensive managed service: EFS is a complete managed service, meaning your firm will never have to patch, deploy, or maintain your file system.

Cost savings: The only storage you’ll pay for is exactly what you use, as there’s no advance provisioning, up-front fees, or commitments. Moreover, you can use Lifecycle Management to transfer files that have been unused for a month to a more cost-effective storage class, which can lower expenses up to 85%.

Tighter security and compliance: You can securely access the file system with your current security solution, or control access to EFS file systems using AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC), or POSIX permissions. And, EFS can encrypt your data, whether it’s in transit or at rest. This gives you dependable security and makes regulatory compliance easier.