Support for Windows MyFiles and Data Persistence

[mirneshalilovic]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Yes, currently for Linux users, there is a possibility to view files inside the app and automatically attach a persistent volume. However, Windows users lack this functionality. Windows local users (not connected to Azure AD) face permission issues due to different SIDs being generated each time a new user profile is created. This leads to problems in persisting user data across sessions, and there is no option to automatically attach a volume as a D drive for user data storage.

Describe the feature you'd like

• Implement file visibility inside the app for Windows users, similar to what is available for Linux users.
• Add a feature to automatically attach a persistent volume for Windows environments, ensuring that user data can be stored and retrieved across sessions.
• Enable the creation of user profiles that persist across sessions, storing user data in a separate disk (e.g., D drive) that is attached upon login.
• Address the SID permission issue by ensuring that the same local user profile is maintained across sessions, so user data access is consistent and permission errors are avoided.

Additional context
A persistent D drive for user data would enhance the user experience by allowing for data storage continuity across sessions.
Automatically attaching the D drive would save manual effort and reduce configuration complexity.

[mcrozes]

Hello @mirneshalilovic -

Agree with your post here, and we are already planning to add native support for FSx for Netapp ONTAP (https://aws.amazon.com/fr/fsx/netapp-ontap/) in a future release. As mentioned, the goal here is to provide a seamless experience for Linux and Windows users, via a single, persistent and shared filesystem.

You can still integrate FSx for Netapp ONTAP today on SOCA, but the process is manual, the goal here is to have everything fully automated for (1) new Netapp mount (e.g: you will have the option to use Netapp for /apps or /data) as well as (2) make it easier to mount existing/on-premise Netapp volumes.

We have a beta build if you are interested to test this feature, feel free to email [email protected].

I will keep this ticket open for visibility until this feature is GA.

[mirneshalilovic]

Hello @mcrozes

Thank you for the detailed response and for confirming that native FSx for NetApp ONTAP support is on the roadmap!
The ability to automate the mounting of new and existing NetApp volumes will be a huge improvement for our use case

Thanks again for keeping this ticket open for visibility, and I look forward to contributing to the process!

[sysdori]

This feature seems very useful.
I tested an environment where FSx Windows and OpenZFS file systems were automatically mounted to Windows VDI users with Windows AD, but there was a lot of manual work.
I expect that the usability will greatly improve if data can be easily shared between heterogeneous OS users.

[mcrozes]

Hello all,

Just letting you know we have started working on native FSxN support for /apps & /data. Phase1 is to extend support of both shares from efs | fsx_lustre to efs | fsx_lustre | fsx_ontap.

We are also brainstorming on a new FileSystem SSM tree that will make FS automount / addition easier (e.g: you will be able to add new filesystem on-demand, post cluster deployment).

This is still in active development, feel free to email [email protected] / email me directory if you want to follow the latest updates. I expect to be able to share a preview build by end of November.

[mcrozes]

Hey all, the preview code with native FSxN + automatic CIFS share creation + ACL configuration (to ensure permissions for both Windows and Linux clients are set up correctly) as well as intro to the new SocaFilesystemAutoMount() is ready to be shared. Feel free to email me if interested