Here’s a cheaper alternative to using AWS Transfer for SFTP
You could save hundreds or even thousands of dollars and time
AWS Transfer is a managed service provided by Amazon that allows businesses to transfer files over SFTP, FTPS, and FTP directly into and out of Amazon S3. With AWS Transfer, businesses pay for an endpoint, as well as some of the network costs.
The endpoint is essentially an SFTP service that AWS manages on the user’s behalf. The cost of the endpoint is 30 cents per hour, which is a lot for an SFTP service.
Once it’s up and running, it stays that way until you terminate it and you will continue to be billed until you do this. This can get expensive and it’s not the only cost you’ll face when using AWS Transfer for SFTP.
When it comes to network bandwidth pricing, AWS Transfer splits the cost between ingress (data going into AWS) and egress (data going out of AWS). This is the first time AWS is charging for data ingress, and this is something to consider if your workload involves archiving large amounts of data, such as media files.
Another unexpected cost associated with AWS Transfer is AWS Secrets Manager. Many SFTP implementations have to accommodate at least some users with password authentication. So in practice, you will likely be using a Lambda with AWS Secrets Manager for authentication.
Secrets Manger is priced at 40 cents per secret, per month. This is reasonable for its original use case, which is to rotate database passwords.
But, if you’re creating one secret for each SFTP user, this can be a significant cost if you have hundreds or thousands of users. Even with a few SFTP users, this cost can add up.
Luckily, there’s an alternative to using AWS Transfer for SFTP.
A cost-saving alternative to using AWS Transfer for SFTP
After all that talk about how expensive AWS Transfer can get, we have some good news. SFTP Gateway is a simple, secure and more affordable way to connect SFTP users to cloud storage locations like S3.
With SFTP Gateway, businesses only pay for the cost of running the server, which is six cents per hour after the 30-day trial period ends, plus your cloud infrastructure costs from AWS. You can also turn SFTP Gateway on and off easily. This makes SFTP Gateway a much more cost-effective solution, especially for workloads only requiring one server.
Another option is to subscribe to the SaaS version of SFTP Gateway, which costs just $9 a month per user. You can compare the SaaS version with the self-managed and the dedicated hosting versions of SFTP Gateway to determine the best option for you. Check out the product grid at tyhorntech.com/sftpgateway.
SFTP Gateway also writes directly to S3. Since there are no egress data transfer charges for writing to ec2 or S3, you will not be charged anything additional for file uploads using SFTP Gateway.
How SFTP Gateway can save you time
With SFTP Gateway, you’re not only going to find ways to free up money in your budget. You’re going to save time as well.
SFTP Gateway allows an admin to give SFTP users access to Amazon S3 and other cloud storage locations with a simple web-based admin portal. Designed specifically as an SFTP solution, you can open up the web admin portal, create a user, set up key-based authentication or a password, and set folder permissions, among other things. It’s simple.
AWS Transfer, on the other hand, is more of a tool in the list of AWS services, rather than an integrated SFTP solution. In order to use any of the features, you need to string together other AWS services.
For example, Transfer gives you key-based authentication out of the box. But, the moment you want to add passwords, it doesn’t support that. Instead, you need to implement an additional Lambda function in order to support password authentication, and then point the Lambda to AWS Secrets Manager, where you store those passwords.
Another example is folder permissions. With SFTP Gateway, you can manage these in a web admin portal. But with Transfer, you need to write an IAM policy that enumerates the permissions of the folder hierarchy. This can be difficult, time consuming and requires specific knowledge of IAM policy schema.
AWS Transfer does have a solution where you can deploy a web admin portal that works with Transfer. But, this is not an off-the-shelf product, it is more like open-source code. It involves deploying a highly available web application in docker containers behind a load balancer, orchestrated by CloudFormation. And since it’s an AWS Solution, you are responsible for maintaining this application and its security.
If you don’t have the time or the expertise to take the actions described above with AWS Transfer, you’ll need to pass the word along to someone else on your team or hire someone. You might also need technical support and this is where SFTP Gateway can save you even more time and money
SFTP Gateway comes with free email support for developers
Whether you’re in the deployment process or experiencing issues after setting it up, SFTP Gateway offers free email support for developers.
This means that if you run into any problems, you can simply email the SFTP Gateway team, and they’ll get back to you within 24 hours during normal business hours.
In addition to free email support, SFTP Gateway also offers paid advanced support packages, which include options such as screen sharing and phone support. This is especially useful for those who need more immediate assistance.
On the other hand, if you experience an issue with AWS Transfer, you would need to purchase basic support in order to email them for assistance. Alternatively, you can search for answers on the AWS Transfer documentation or look for user-made tutorials on platforms such as YouTube and Stack Overflow.
When it comes to finding information, it’s worth noting that SFTP Gateway has a comprehensive knowledge base available 24/7, which may be helpful in finding the answers you need. There’s also a YouTube channel filled with SFTP Gateway quick start guides and how-to videos.
SFTP Gateway comes with a 30-day free trial
For more on SFTP Gateway vs. AWS Transfer for SFTP, check out the discussion below on YouTube and get started with a 30-day free trial.
