NFS vs EFS: Choosing the Right Network File System for Your Workloads
Introduction Shared file storage is a foundational piece of many infrastructure architectures—from legacy on‑premises applications to modern containerized microservices. Two terms you’ll encounter often are: NFS (Network File System) – the long‑standing, POSIX‑style file sharing protocol. EFS (Amazon Elastic File System) – AWS’s managed network file system service. They’re related but not interchangeable: EFS uses NFS, but NFS is not EFS. This article explains: What NFS and EFS actually are How they’re similar and how they differ Performance, availability, security, and cost considerations Common architectures and when to choose each Practical examples (mount commands, Terraform snippets, migration patterns) The goal is to help you decide: “Should I just use standard NFS, or is EFS the right choice for this workload?” ...