Cloud-Native Storage Modernization: Building Enterprise-Level AWS Storage Solutions

As organizations continue to move toward the implementation of cloud-native architectures, storage is proving to be a foundational element for an enterprise's application performance, scalability, resiliency and cost efficiency. However, traditional on-premises storage solutions were designed to store static workloads and are not built to support modern use cases including microservices, containers, data lakes, and AI-based analytics.

With properly architected AWS storage solutions, enterprises are able to modernize their data-layer using cloud-native principles and best practices.

A New Era in Storage-storing Methodologies

Although conventional storage methodologies primarily focus on fixed, static storage infrastructure, modernized Cloud-Native storage (CNS) is focused on Cloud-based Storage Solutions that provide storage services in a flexible, managed/elastic manner.

Modern AWS storage solutions have the following characteristics:

• Elastic & Dynamically Scalable
• Fully Managed and API Driven
• Highly Available & Fault Tolerant
• Performance, Durability and Cost Optimized

This modernized approach gives businesses greater agility and less operational complexity to respond faster to the ever-changing demands of their business.

Most legacy storage systems create obstacles for organizations that still choose to use traditional storage. The obstacles include:

• Static capacity planning results in organizations over-provisioning or performance bottlenecks.
• Manual provisioning, patching and monitoring adds an inordinate amount of operational overhead.
• The limited ability to scale analytics and big data projects and workloads limits organizations ability to use these technologies for the deployment of AI.
• Dependency on only one datacentre increases downtime and disaster recovery risk.
• Limited cost visibility makes it more difficult for organizations to optimize their IT spending

These limitations slow innovation and prevent organizations from completing their Digital Transformation initiatives.

AWS Storage Options for Cloud-Native Architectures

Organizations can select from AWS's extensive array of storage services according to their performance, access patterns, and durability requirements. Organizations can use the right AWS Storage Solution based on their specific Performance, Access Patterns, and Durability Requirements.

• Data-Driven Workloads with Object Storage

Amazon S3 provides unbelievably durable, unlimited scalability for object storage, with built-in integration with analytics, security, and machine learning products. Users can implement Lifecycle Policies in Amazon S3 to automate the optimization of costs associated with data, and Amazon S3 Provides the foundation of Modern Data Lakes.

• Performance Block Storage System for Critical Applications

Amazon EBS provides fast and high-performance block storage for your EC2 workloads, with volume types that are designed for both IOPS and throughput. These multiple types of volumes are designed for use in database environments and transactional enterprise applications.

• Shared and Hybrid File Storage Solution

Amazon EFS and Amazon FSx are complete file systems that are fully managed by AWS. These file systems provide automatic scaling based on your use and allow multiple users to share access to their files on a network.

• The Hybrid Storage Solution will allow for Continued Incremental Modernization

The AWS Storage Gateway provides customers access to on-premises and cloud storage, allowing for a gradual transition from a traditional storage system to a fully cloud-based storage system while maintaining low-latency access on-premises.

Principles Guide the Design of Cloud-Native Architectures on AWS

AWS storage solutions that meet enterprise requirements follow the AWS Well-Architected Framework in five important areas:

• Decoupled architecture so that your data can scale independently
• Automation through Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
• Multi-AZ and Cross-Region replication provides built-in resilience
• Design for secure by-in-design, including encryption, IAM (Identity and Access Management) and audit logging
• Utilization of intelligent tiered storage and usage-based pricing to optimize costs

The Business Value to Organizations Adopting AWS Cloud Storage

Organizations that are adopting AWS cloud storage will achieve a number of benefits, including improved application performance, a reduction in operational costs, better capabilities to support Disaster Recovery (DR), faster innovation for Analytics, and more visibility into cost structure.

How Ancrew Global Services Helps Organizations Adopt AWS Cloud Storage

Ancrew Global Services works with organizations to design and build an optimal AWS storage solution that meets their unique business and application requirements. This includes assessment of existing infrastructure, designing the architecture for the new solution, securely migrating to the AWS cloud, and continual optimization of the AWS cloud storage solution to enable the organization's storage to be a strategic asset for building scalable, resilient, and future-ready cloud platforms.