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I have a quiz site which creates images from a set of source images, the result images are stored in S3 and i don't care about it. My question is about source images, S3 or EFS is better for storing the source images for this purpose. I am using php to create result images.

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    If you're already using S3 then you can just stick with that. If you're using both already then EFS would feel more native when writing the PHP code. Commented Sep 6, 2017 at 16:23

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Here's a general rule for you: Always use Amazon S3 unless you have a reason to do otherwise.

Why?

  • It has unlimited storage
  • The data is replicated for resilience
  • It is accessible from anywhere (given the right permissions)
  • It has various cost options
  • Can be accessed by AWS Lambda functions

The alternative is a local disk (EBS) or a shared file system (EFS). They are more expensive, can only be accessed from EC2 and take some amount of management. However, they have the benefit that they act as a directly-attached storage device, so your code can reference it directly without having to upload/download.

So, if your code needs the files locally, the EFS would be a better choice. But if you code can handle S3 (download from it, use the files, upload the results), then S3 is a better option.

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Given your source images will (presumably) be at a higher resolution than those you are creating, and that once processed, they will not need to be accessed regularly after while (again, presumably), I would suggest that the lower cost of S3 and the archiving options available there means it would be best for you. There's a more in depth answer here:

AWS EFS vs EBS vs S3 (differences & when to use?)

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If i use S3 for source images it require more bandwidth right ? If i use efs there is no extra cost for bandwidth ?
Is your app server in AWS as well? I think data transfer from EC2 to S3 is free within the same region, and also free from the public internet: aws.amazon.com/s3/pricing
Yes, my app is in Ec2.

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