Using Amazon EFS as a Fully Managed NFS for SAP Transport Directories
An organization is migrating an SAP system from on-premises to AWS. The SAP system uses a shared file system (NFS) for transport directories. The company wants a fully managed NFS solution on AWS. Which service should they use?
Quick Answer
This question is a direct match between a stated requirement, a fully managed NFS solution, and the AWS service purpose-built to deliver exactly that. Amazon EFS supports the NFSv4.1 and NFSv4.0 protocols, which means it behaves like a standard POSIX-compliant NFS share that SAP transport directories expect, so no application-level changes are needed when moving from an on-premises NFS server to EFS. The fully managed part is what rules out any self-hosted alternative: EFS handles scaling, durability, and availability automatically, so the organization doesn't need to provision, patch, or maintain the underlying NFS server infrastructure the way it would on-premises or with a self-managed file server running on EC2. This is a common pattern for SAP transport directories specifically, since those directories are shared across multiple application servers in the landscape and need to behave consistently and be reachable from every server that participates in transport management. Whenever a question describes a shared file system requirement for SAP, transport directories, /sapmnt, or interface directories, and explicitly asks for something fully managed or with least administrative overhead, Amazon EFS is almost always the intended answer, since it's the AWS-native managed NFS offering and integrates cleanly with the POSIX file system expectations SAP has for these shared directories.
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse Amazon EBS with a shared file system because it can be formatted with a file system, but they overlook that EBS volumes cannot be attached to multiple EC2 instances simultaneously without additional clustering software, making it unsuitable for NFS-based SAP transport directories.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Amazon Elastic File System (EFS)
Amazon EFS is a fully managed NFS file system that supports the NFSv4.1 and NFSv4.0 protocols, making it the ideal choice for SAP transport directories that require a shared POSIX-compliant file system. It provides high availability, automatic scaling, and eliminates the need to manage underlying storage infrastructure, directly matching the requirement for a fully managed NFS solution on AWS.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS)
Why it's wrong here
Block storage, cannot be shared across multiple instances.
- ✗
Amazon FSx for Windows File Server
Why it's wrong here
Uses SMB protocol, not NFS.
- ✓
Amazon Elastic File System (EFS)
Why this is correct
Managed NFS file system.
- ✗
Amazon S3
Why it's wrong here
Object storage, not a file system.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 1,616 original PAS-C01 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on PAS-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. An SAP system on AWS is experiencing performance issues. The system uses a shared file system (SAP transport directory) mounted from an NFS server. During migration, the team wants to improve performance and reduce complexity. Which AWS service should replace the NFS server?
medium- A.Amazon S3 with S3FS
- B.Amazon FSx for Windows File Server
- C.AWS Storage Gateway (file gateway)
- ✓ D.Amazon EFS
Why D: Amazon EFS provides a fully managed NFS file system that can be shared across multiple EC2 instances, making it an ideal replacement for the NFS server in SAP transport directory scenarios. Option A (Amazon S3 with S3FS) is incorrect because S3 is object storage and S3FS is a FUSE-based tool that adds complexity and can cause performance issues, not suitable for SAP transport. Option B (Amazon FSx for Windows File Server) is incorrect because it uses SMB protocol, while SAP transport directories typically require NFS and run on Linux instances. Option C (AWS Storage Gateway file gateway) adds unnecessary complexity as it is designed for hybrid storage and caching, not as a direct NFS replacement for this use case.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PAS-C01 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PAS-C01 exam.