How AWS Storage Gateway Can Help Optimize Your Storage Infrastructure
Moving to the cloud sounds straightforward in theory. In practice, organizations running on-premise solutions face real challenges when the time comes to migrate. Data migration, business planning, and the long-term implications of running hybrid infrastructure all create friction.
This post walks through those challenges and shows how AWS Storage Gateway addresses them.
Data Migration
Data migration is one of the trickier parts of moving to the cloud. You’re not just copying files - you’re moving data while keeping applications running, ensuring compatibility with cloud services, and maintaining security throughout. Organizations also need to think about cost, scalability, and what happens if something goes wrong mid-migration.
Business Planning
Once you start moving workloads to the cloud, your operations change. Staff need to learn new tools and take on different responsibilities. New costs appear. I always tell teams to plan for these changes upfront rather than discovering them halfway through the migration.
Long-Term Implications
A successful migration isn’t just about moving data today. You also need to think about whether the cloud solution will handle your performance requirements down the line. As your applications evolve, consider whether you’re positioned to take advantage of newer technologies like AI and machine learning.
Storage Gateway
What is AWS Storage Gateway?
Storage Gateway is a hybrid storage service that lets your on-premises applications access cloud storage with low latency. You deploy a VM on-site - either in your data center or on EC2 - and it bridges your local environment to S3.
The service supports NFS, S3 API, and iSCSI protocols, so it works with most existing applications without major changes. Frequently accessed data stays cached locally for fast reads, while the bulk of your data lives in S3.
It’s a practical option if you need disaster recovery, archiving, or backup without rearchitecting your applications.
Virtual Machine
The Storage Gateway VM is free to deploy. Once it’s running, you can provision storage devices quickly and connect them directly to S3. The VM handles the protocol translation and caching, so your applications talk to it like any other network drive.
This setup works well if you want to move storage-heavy workloads to the cloud gradually without disrupting existing workflows.
AWS Storage Gateway Types
Storage Gateway comes in three flavors: File Gateway, Volume Gateway, and Tape Gateway.
File Gateway (NFS) lets you store and retrieve objects up to 5 TB. It supports both NFS and S3 API access, along with versioning, lifecycle management, and cross-region replication.
Volume Gateway (iSCSI) provides block storage for applications that need low-latency access - think databases. You mount iSCSI volumes on your existing servers and can snapshot them for backups or replicate across regions.
Tape Gateway (VTL) acts as a virtual tape library. It’s a cost-effective way to handle backups and archives if you’re working with backup software that supports iSCSI or NDMP. You get the economics of cloud storage without replacing your existing backup workflows.
Storage Gateway Cached Volumes
Cached Volumes is one of two deployment models for Volume Gateway (the other is Stored Volumes).
With Cached Volumes, your working data stays on-site in a local cache while less-frequently accessed data lives in S3. This gives you the scalability of S3 without sacrificing latency for active datasets.
Key specs: up to 32 volumes per gateway, with a maximum of 32 TiB per volume. You can create point-in-time snapshots for backup purposes.
Cached Volumes make sense for workloads where you access a subset of data frequently. If you need low latency for all your data, Stored Volumes might be a better fit.
AWS Storage Gateway - Hardware Appliance
AWS also offers a physical hardware appliance if you prefer an on-premises deployment that isn’t a VM. The appliance comes pre-configured with the Storage Gateway software and connects your local infrastructure to AWS with high throughput and low latency.
You manage it through the same AWS Console, APIs, and CLI as the virtual appliance, so there’s no new tooling to learn.
The hardware appliance requires a 3-year commitment and is available in select regions. Before going this route, compare the total cost against running the VM version on your own hardware or on EC2.
Integration with Other AWS Services
Storage Gateway integrates with several AWS services out of the box:
- Amazon S3 - Your primary storage backend
- Amazon EBS - For block volumes accessible to EC2 instances
- Amazon Glacier - For long-term archive and backup
- AWS Backup - Centralized backup management across AWS and on-premises
- Amazon FSx - For Windows file servers
- Amazon Tape Archive - Archive directly to S3, Glacier, or EBS
- Direct Connect - Dedicated network connection to AWS
- VPC - Isolate and secure your cloud workloads
- IAM - Control access to Storage Gateway resources
- KMS - Encrypt data in transit and at rest
Storage Gateway Features
A few capabilities worth knowing about:
- Encryption - Data is encrypted in transit and at rest
- VMware vSphere and KVM support - Deploy on your existing hypervisor
- Replication - Replicate data across AWS regions
- Bandwidth throttling - Control how much bandwidth replication uses
- Storage optimization - Deduplication, compression, and caching built in
- CloudFormation support - Manage Storage Gateway as infrastructure as code
- Monitoring - Track usage metrics and transfer speeds through CloudWatch
Storage Gateway Pricing
Pricing varies by gateway type.
File Gateway charges for S3 storage used plus request costs. Data going INTO File Gateway is free; data leaving incurs standard transfer rates.
Volume Gateway charges based on storage volume size, snapshot storage, and data transfer. The model differs between cached and stored volume deployments.
Tape Gateway charges per virtual tape, plus storage and transfer fees.
You’re also charged for the underlying S3, Glacier, and EC2 resources Storage Gateway uses. Check the AWS pricing page for current rates before committing.
Storage Gateway vs DataSync
Storage Gateway and DataSync both move data between on-premises and AWS, but they’re designed for different scenarios.
Storage Gateway is always-on hybrid storage. Your applications access it like local storage while data lives in the cloud. It’s best for ongoing workloads that need low-latency access.
DataSync is a transfer service for one-time or recurring large-scale migrations. It handles the movement more efficiently than manual scripts or open-source tools, but it doesn’t provide the continuous local access that Storage Gateway does.
If you need to extend your infrastructure to the cloud and run workloads across both environments, Storage Gateway is the better fit. If you just need to move terabytes of data periodically, DataSync is simpler.
Conclusion
Storage Gateway and DataSync serve different purposes, and many teams end up using both.
Storage Gateway keeps your on-premises applications connected to cloud storage without major rewrites. File Gateway handles object workloads, Volume Gateway supports block storage and databases, and Tape Gateway works with existing backup software.
DataSync shines for bulk transfers and migrations where you don’t need persistent hybrid access.
The right choice depends on your workloads. If you’re unsure, start with a small proof-of-concept with your most latency-sensitive application.
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