Consider the following recommendations for the Dell APEX Block Storage for AWS:
- Deploying Dell APEX Block Storage for AWS in multiple Availability Zones (AZs) can mitigate workload downtime if an AZ becomes unavailable. When availability is not critical, Dell APEX Block Storage for AWS can run in a single AZ.
- Use the i3en EC2 instance family with NVMe SSDs optimized for low latency and high I/O performance.
- Since instance store disks are ephemeral and their data is deleted when the system is shut down (this does not include reboots), plan for this accordingly, such as by using AWS EC2 Instances Stop Protection, or by using system backup procedures before shutting down the PowerFlex SDS instances.
- Use the c5n EC2 instance family to deploy Dell APEX Block Storage for AWS with EBS storage. The c5n EC2 instance family provides flexibility with frequent storage instance shutdowns by eliminating the need to back up the system, for example, if the system is brought down every weekend.
- Ensure that you understand the scope of AWS resources and their availability. For example, instance store (NVMe storage) is ephemeral, but remains persistent if an instance reboots and is protected by PowerFlex SDS RAID 1 mesh when one SDS instance is shut down at a time. When using EBS storage, EBS volumes are tied to a specific AZ. Then if that AZ becomes unavailable so will the storage. Deploying Dell APEX Block Storage for AWS across AZs protects from this situation. S3 is a regional resource and backups to S3 are accessible if the region is accessible. To protect application workload across regions, use a replication strategy at the database, storage, or backup (such as DDVE) levels.
- Use a public subnet for external-facing resources that communicate with the Internet.
- Use a private subnet for internal resources that does not communicate with the Internet.