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Amazon Web Services (AWS) have announced a large number of updates to their storage portfolio.

Silicon Angle reports that AWS announced a new feature for Amazon Elastic Block Store: Fast Snapshot Restore. .

Amazon Elastic Block Store is a cloud-based block storage system for persistent data, which also includes a Snapshot feature to allow the state of a specific volume for backup and disaster recovery purposes.

Fast Snapshot Restore is an extension to this. It allows users to create fully initiated Elastic Block Store volumes based on their snapshots with a single click. This allows users to build AWS systems that are “even faster and more responsive” according to AWS Chief Evangelist Jeff Barr.

Amazon FSx for Windows File Server

The second major update is focused on Amazon FSx for Windows File Server. This is a service that allows Windows-based applications running in the cloud to achieve full compatibility with the Windows file system.

The service is improved in various ways, including with new features. There are Self-Managed Directories, for example, with which Amazon FSx file systems can be linked to Microsoft Active Directories on-premise or which are self-managed and hosted in the cloud. Fine-Grained File Restoration should make it easier to view and restore previous versions of files.

A number of enterprise-ready features have also been added. Native Multi AZ File Systems is a feature that includes multiple AWS Availability Zones for Continuously Available file shares, optimised for use in Microsoft SQL Server. This allows users to store active SQL Server data on a fully managed Windows file system in AWS.

Update to Gateway Storage

AWS Gateway Storage, which aims to simplify storage management, has also been updated. With this update, the availability is increased on the basis of a number of automated ‘health checks’.

These health checks are introduced when Gateway Storage is running in VMware vSphere High Availability environments. Thanks to this update, users can recover from service disruptions within 60 seconds or less, according to AWS.

AWS DataSync

Finally, AWS DataSync will receive a number of updates. This service automates the process of moving data between on-premise storage and Amazon S3 or Amazon Elastic File System.

DataSync includes a task scheduling feature that allows users to periodically perform tasks that detect changes. The function copies the changes from the source system to the new destination. The tasks can be performed on an hourly, daily, weekly or other periodic basis.

In addition, the entire service becomes cheaper. Whereas DataSync used to cost 4 cents per GB of data moved, it now costs 1.25 cents per GB. The service will also become available in new regions, including Europe (Stockholm), Asia Pacific (Mumbai) and South America (Sao Paulo).