Title

AWS re:Invent 2023 - AWS storage: The backbone for your data-driven business (STG227)

Summary

• Andy, an AWS engineer, discusses the continuous innovation in AWS storage services, focusing on durability, security, availability, and performance.
• EBS (Elastic Block Store) has seen significant improvements over 15 years, with a shift from HDD to SSD, leading to better performance and durability.
• AWS introduced EBS IO2 Block Express, offering high performance and durability.
• S3 (Simple Storage Service) has evolved to meet customer demands for low-latency, high-throughput storage, leading to the creation of S3 Express One Zone.
• Marianne Johnson from Cox Automotive shared their cloud and data journey, highlighting the importance of being intentional with data and leveraging AWS and partners for transformation.
• AWS FSx series products facilitate migrations to the cloud, with FSx for NetApp ONTAP offering significant performance improvements.
• Data lakes on S3 have grown exponentially, with customers leveraging open table formats like Iceberg for better data management.
• AWS introduced S3 Access Grants for better governance and integration with organizational directories.
• Generative AI and machine learning workloads are closely tied to data lakes, with AWS providing high-performance storage solutions like FSx for Lustre and direct S3 access.
• AWS is redefining the service boundary by improving client-side performance with the Common Runtime (CRT) library, which is now enabled by default in the CLI and Boto for machine learning instances.

Insights

• AWS storage services prioritize incremental improvements that may not always be visible but significantly enhance performance and reliability over time.
• The transition from HDD to SSD in EBS is a testament to AWS's commitment to adapting to technological advancements for better service delivery.
• The introduction of S3 Express One Zone indicates AWS's response to the growing need for storage solutions that cater to low-latency and high-throughput requirements, particularly for machine learning and AI workloads.
• The success story of Cox Automotive illustrates the transformative power of AWS cloud services and the strategic importance of data management in achieving business agility and innovation.
• AWS's FSx series products are designed to ease the migration process for enterprises, allowing them to leverage cloud capabilities while maintaining familiar storage environments.
• The adoption of open table formats like Iceberg reflects the evolving needs of data lake users for better data management and governance.
• S3 Access Grants demonstrate AWS's focus on providing fine-grained access control and audit capabilities, which are crucial for compliance and security in data-intensive environments.
• AWS's investment in generative AI and machine learning is evident in its storage solutions, which are optimized to handle the scale and performance demands of these advanced workloads.
• The Common Runtime library's integration into AWS SDKs and tools underscores AWS's effort to ensure high-performance data transfers and an improved user experience, making sophisticated storage capabilities more accessible to a broader range of customers.