🚀 Cloud-Native File System using AWS S3 Files

📌 Overview

This project demonstrates a production-grade implementation of AWS S3 Files mounted as a file system on an EC2 instance using a VPC Interface Endpoint, enabling applications to interact with S3 using standard file operations.

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🧠 Architecture

Browser → Node.js App (EC2) → Mounted S3 Files (/mnt/s3files) → Amazon S3 Bucket

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🏗️ Architecture Diagram

⚙️ Tech Stack

• ☁️ AWS EC2 (Ubuntu 24.04)
• 🪣 Amazon S3 (S3 Files - New Feature)
• 🌐 VPC Interface Endpoint (Private Connectivity)
• 🔐 Security Groups
• 🟢 Node.js (Express)
• 📂 File System Mount (s3files)

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🔥 Features

• Mount S3 as a local file system
• Read & write files using Node.js
• Private connectivity via VPC Endpoint (no public internet)
• Real-time sync between EC2 and S3
• REST API to interact with files

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🛠️ Setup Steps

1. Launch EC2 Instance

• Ubuntu 24.04
• Open ports: 22, 3000

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2. Create S3 Bucket

• Create a standard S3 bucket

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3. Create S3 Files File System

• Attach to S3 bucket

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4. Create VPC Endpoint

• Type: Interface
• Service: aws.api.<region>.s3files
• Enable Private DNS
• Attach correct Security Group (IMPORTANT)

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5. Mount S3 Files on EC2

sudo mkdir /mnt/s3files
sudo mount -t s3files <file-system-id>:/ /mnt/s3files

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6. Fix Permissions

sudo chown -R ubuntu:ubuntu /mnt/s3files

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7. Node.js App

npm init -y
npm install express

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🧾 Sample App (app.js)

const express = require("express");
const fs = require("fs");

const app = express();
const PORT = 3000;

app.get("/", (req, res) => {
    res.send("🚀 S3 Files System Working!");
});

app.get("/write", (req, res) => {
    fs.writeFileSync("/mnt/s3files/hello.txt", "Hello from Node App");
    res.send("File written to S3 Files!");
});

app.get("/read", (req, res) => {
    const data = fs.readFileSync("/mnt/s3files/hello.txt", "utf-8");
    res.send(data);
});

app.listen(PORT, "0.0.0.0", () => {
    console.log(`Server running on port ${PORT}`);
});

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🌐 API Endpoints

Endpoint	Description
/	Health check
/write	Write file to S3
/read	Read file from S3

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📸 Screenshots

🌐 Home Page

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🔐 Security Group Configuration

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🧱 Endpoint Details

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📂 Mounted S3 File System (EC2)

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📂 S3 File System (Overview)

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💻 EC2 Instance (App Server Running)

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🪣 S3 Bucket (Files Stored)

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💽 Disk Mount Verification

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✍️ Write API (/write)

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📖 Read API (/read)

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🧠 Key Learnings

• VPC Interface Endpoints and PrivateLink
• DNS resolution inside VPC
• Security Group troubleshooting
• Mounting object storage as file system
• Integrating cloud storage with applications

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🚨 Challenges Faced

• ❌ DNS resolution failure
• ❌ Mount timeout issues
• ❌ Permission denied on mount
• ❌ Security group misconfiguration

✅ Solutions

• Enabled VPC DNS settings
• Configured correct VPC Endpoint
• Updated Security Groups
• Fixed mount permissions

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🏆 Highlight

Implemented AWS S3 Files mounted on EC2 using VPC Interface Endpoint, enabling secure and scalable file operations through a Node.js application.

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📂 Project Structure

project/
│── app.js
│── package.json
│── package-lock.json
│── README.md
│── screenshots/

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🚀 Future Improvements

• Dockerize application
• Automate infra using Terraform
• Add Nginx reverse proxy
• Implement IAM role-based access

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📚 References

• AWS Blog: Launching S3 Files – Making S3 buckets accessible as file systems
• AWS Documentation: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/s3-files.html

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