An enterprise currently runs Windows-based file shares for its applications and wants a fully managed AWS service that supports the SMB protocol and integrates with Active Directory. Which service should they choose?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
FSx for Windows File Server runs managed Windows Servers under the hood, so it speaks native SMB, supports NTFS ACLs, DNS, DFS, and joins Active Directory domains. Migrating existing Windows file shares onto it requires almost no protocol translation.
EFS speaks NFS for Linux clients, S3 has no POSIX/SMB file surface, and File Gateway is a caching bridge over S3 rather than a genuine Windows file server.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. EFS supports only NFS and targets Linux workloads; a Windows SMB share cannot land on it unchanged.
- C. S3 is object storage with API access; it neither speaks SMB nor emulates a Windows file server.
- D. File Gateway caches S3-backed data on premises and is aimed at hybrid integration, not at hosting native Windows file shares.