Transfer Family vs Lambda Function for file transfer from SFTP server

Hi,

Lambda would be better suited for post-delivery data processing operations AFTER the files were fully delivered. Lambda would play no role in the direct SFTP file transfer.

Depending on how many files would be transferred or it's size the Lambda function could reach it's limits https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/gettingstarted-limits.html

One of the limits to keep in mind is the Lambda function timeout of 900 seconds (15 min)

Benefits of using AWS Transfer Family are detailed here: https://aws.amazon.com/aws-transfer-family/mft

Features of AWS Transfer Family are detailed here: https://aws.amazon.com/aws-transfer-family/features

Several blog posts that detail how to setup AWS Transfer Family can be setup and deployed to protect your File Transfer workflows:

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/storage/configuring-your-ftps-server-behind-a-firewall-or-nat-with-aws-transfer-family/

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/storage/secure-your-aws-transfer-family-sftp-and-ftps-vpc-public-endpoints/

What Nuno mentioned is correct. Lambda is not a good option for moving files from on-prem to AWS. I would like to make you aware of some other options as well for moving files from on-prem to AWS S3.

If you want to move files from on-prem to S3 on a schedule, you can also look at AWS DataSync - https://aws.amazon.com/datasync/

There are also some good blogs on AWS DataSync - https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/storage/tag/aws-datasync/

If you want the ability to also access files on S3 for your on-prem users, you can also look at File Gateway - https://aws.amazon.com/storagegateway/file/

There are blogs on AWS File Gateway - https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/storage/tag/aws-file-gateway/

You can look at the AWS Cost Calculators for each of these services to estimate the costs based on your usage patterns.