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Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs Amazon S3 Glacier comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon EFS (Elastic File Sy...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Storage (4th), File and Object Storage (8th)
Amazon S3 Glacier
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Public Cloud Storage Services (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Cloud Services solutions, they serve different purposes. Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) is designed for Cloud Storage and holds a mindshare of 8.0%, down 9.9% compared to last year.
Amazon S3 Glacier, on the other hand, focuses on Public Cloud Storage Services, holds 17.7% mindshare, up 15.4% since last year.
Cloud Storage
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

MuhammadAzhar Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Auto-scaling capabilities enhance file management while reducing downtime
The most valuable feature of Amazon EFS is its auto-scaling capability. It's really easy to configure EFS by just creating it and running a command to directly configure it with my servers. It supports unlimited use, and charges are applied based on the file usage at the end of the month. The solution offers reduced downtime and increased durability through its auto-scaling features.
ArunDhwaj - PeerSpot reviewer
Versatile data storage improves security and supports increasing data volumes
Amazon S3 Glacier offers robust security features and practically infinite storage, where we can store all kinds of media swiftly. It supports various data types, including semi-structured and raw formats. These features facilitate log management and data dumping since the service is versatile enough to handle large volumes of data and provide necessary security.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"We can run code and deploy it whenever we want."
"We haven't seen any downtime or challenges when using the services."
"Its elasticity and flexible pricing are the most valuable. For Amazon EFS, you are charged based on the storage. It is also very fast and stable with a very simple and intuitive interface."
"Elastic File Systems allow me to share data, provision, and manage capacity and performance in AWS."
"Amazon EFS offers the flexibility of scaling as needed without requiring pre-provisioned storage."
"Amazon EFS offers the flexibility of scaling as needed without requiring pre-provisioned storage."
"Amazon EFS is extremely stable, as it is managed by AWS."
"Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) is secure as it is used under VPC."
"Amazon S3 Glacier offers robust security features and practically infinite storage, where we can store all kinds of media swiftly."
"Its auto-scaling capabilities allow us to add data continuously without needing to pre-provision storage."
"We get free credits from Amazon, and we like the overall stability. We haven't had to rely heavily on their customer success teams, which is a good sign."
"We use the solution for migration."
"Amazon S3 Glacier is an easy-to-use solution."
"I find Amazon S3 Glacier valuable for storing various documents like purchase orders, standard documents, and drawings."
"In terms of features, no other cloud solutions or private installations come close to its capabilities."
"It is the most feature-rich platform."
 

Cons

"Specifically, when it comes to the file system for the learning system, we encountered performance issues with both Azure and AWS."
"Amazon EFS is more costly compared to other storage options available from AWS."
"The initial setup requires prior experience and technical skills."
"Around 80 percent of the features of Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) are available on Linux and not in Windows, making it a major drawback of the product."
"The main challenge with EFS is its cost, which is slightly higher compared to EBS or S3."
"Its deployment process could be faster while installing the Python package directly into the environment."
"It could be better in connecting with Windows Server instances."
"When we faced some issues, the support team took a lot of time to resolve them."
"The product takes more time to secure data when the bandwidth is low."
"The product’s pricing must be improved."
"They can improve data discovery."
"Amazon S3 Glacier's data retrieval time is slow compared to other AWS storage services and should be improved."
"The cost can be lower."
"The user experience must be improved."
"I believe the usage reporting could be simplified, particularly for billing purposes. Overall, I find Amazon S3 Glacier's reporting system somewhat confusing compared to other hyperscalers in the market."
"The pricing is a bit expensive. There is room for improvement in costs."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The main challenge with EFS is its cost, which is slightly higher compared to EBS or S3. For one GB or ten GB of data, S3 is much cheaper. EFS could cost around $30 to $50 per month for similar usage."
"I would rate the pricing 7 out of 10."
"The solution's price is mid-ranged."
"The product's price depends on the services and the size and capacity at which it is used in a business environment."
"It has flexible pricing. You are charged based on your storage."
"The product charges are based on the amount of data stored."
"Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) offers a pay-as-you-go model, so whenever you use its services, you need to pay."
"The pricing must be improved."
"Amazon S3 Glacier is very cheap, but the cost becomes a concern when you have a very large amount of data."
"Amazon S3 Glacier is a cost-effective solution for archiving."
"Amazon S3 Glacier is expensive."
"Amazon S3 Glacier has good pricing."
"The pricing is average and reasonable. It varies depending on the region."
"The solution is cost-effective."
"Customers prefer Amazon S3 Glacier because it is a cheap and pay-as-you-go solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
17%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
33%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which file storage system is better - Amazon EFS (elastic file storage) or Azure File Storage?
Amazon EFS is easy to set up: you can use the AWS management console, API, or command-line. Amazon EFS can grow to petabytes and deliver consistent low latencies and high levels of throughput. This...
What do you like most about Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)?
The product's initial setup phase is easy, as per the configurations.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)?
Amazon EFS is more costly compared to other storage options available from AWS.
Which is better - Amazon's S3 Glacier or EBS (Elastic Block Store)?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether Amazon's S3 Glacier or Elastic Block Store data storage software was the better fit for us. We decided to go with Amazon's S3 Glacier, whi...
What do you like most about Amazon S3 Glacier?
I like creating buckets where data can be segregated at a high level and then routing the appropriate data to each designated bucket. In terms of value, I would say that the tool gets the job done ...
What needs improvement with Amazon S3 Glacier?
The cost of retrieval in Glacier is quite high. It would be excellent if Amazon could work on reducing retrieval costs. Another improvement is making Glacier available in all regions.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Amazon Glacier
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Arcesium, Atlassian, Seeking Alpha, Zend
King Cpunty, Illumina, Backupify, Nearmap.com, Scribd, Baylor College of Medicine, SoundCloud
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs. Amazon S3 Glacier and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.