This solution is designed to provide high availability and low-latency access to block storage across multiple Availability Zones with minimal implementation effort.
Windows Server Cluster Across AZs: Configuring a Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC) that spans two Availability Zones ensures that the application can failover from one instance to another in case of a failure, meeting the high availability requirement.
Amazon FSx for Windows File Server: FSx for Windows File Server provides fully managed Windows file storage that is accessible via the SMB protocol, which is suitable for Windows-based applications. It offers high availability and can be used as shared storage between the cluster nodes, ensuring that both nodes have access to the same data with low latency.
Why Not Other Options?:
Option B (EBS with application-level replication): This requires complex configuration and management, as EBS volumes cannot be directly shared across AZs. Application-level replication is more complex and prone to errors.
Option C (FSx for NetApp ONTAP with iSCSI): While this is a viable option, it introduces additional complexity with iSCSI and requires more specialized knowledge for setup and management.
Option D (EBS with EBS-level replication): EBS-level replication is not natively supported across AZs, and setting up a custom replication solution would increase the implementation effort.
AWS References:
Amazon FSx for Windows File Server- Overview and benefits of using FSx for Windows File Server.
Windows Server Failover Clustering on AWS- Guide on setting up a Windows Server cluster on AWS.
