AWS Snow Family
Introduction
AWS Snow Family overview
Applications are moving to the cloud faster today than ever before. A new category of applications requires increased capabilities and performance at the edge of the cloud, or even beyond the edge of the network.
AWS provides edge infrastructure and software that moves data processing and analysis as close as necessary to where data is created in order to deliver intelligent, real-time responsiveness and streamline the amount of data transferred. This includes deploying AWS managed hardware and software to locations outside AWS Regions and even beyond AWS Outposts.
The AWS Snow Family helps customers that need to run operations in austere, non-data center environments, and in locations where there’s lack of consistent network connectivity. The Snow Family, comprised of AWS Snowcone, AWS Snowball, and AWS Snowmobile, offers a number of physical devices and capacity points, most with built-in computing capabilities. These services help physically transport up to exabytes of data into and out of AWS. Snow Family devices are owned and managed by AWS and integrate with AWS security, monitoring, storage management, and computing capabilities.
AWS Snow Family members
AWS Snowcone is the smallest member of the AWS Snow Family of edge computing and data transfer devices. Snowcone is portable, rugged, and secure. You can use Snowcone to collect, process, and move data to AWS, either offline by shipping the device, or online with AWS DataSync.
Running applications in disconnected environments and connected edge locations can be challenging because these locations often lack the space, power, and cooling needed for data center IT equipment. AWS Snowcone stores data securely in edge locations, and can run edge computing workloads that use AWS IoT Greengrass or Amazon EC2 instances. Snowcone devices are small and weigh 4.5 lbs. (2.1 kg), so you can carry one in a backpack or fit it in tight spaces for IoT, vehicular, or even drone use cases.
AWS Snowball is a data migration and edge computing device that comes in two device options: Compute Optimized and Storage Optimized.
Snowball Edge Storage Optimized devices provide 40 vCPUs of compute capacity coupled with 80 terabytes of usable block or Amazon S3-compatible object storage. It is well-suited for local storage and large-scale data transfer. Snowball Edge Compute Optimized devices provide 52 vCPUs, 42 terabytes of usable block or object storage, and an optional GPU for use cases such as advanced machine learning and full motion video analysis in disconnected environments. Customers can use these two options for data collection, machine learning and processing, and storage in environments with intermittent connectivity (such as manufacturing, industrial, and transportation) or in extremely remote locations (such as military or maritime operations) before shipping it back to AWS. These devices may also be rack mounted and clustered together to build larger, temporary installations.
AWS Snowmobile moves up to 100 PB of data in a 45-foot long ruggedized shipping container and is ideal for multi-petabyte or Exabyte-scale digital media migrations and data center shutdowns. A Snowmobile arrives at the customer site and appears as a network-attached data store for more secure, high-speed data transfer. After data is transferred to Snowmobile, it is driven back to an AWS Region where the data is loaded into Amazon S3.
Snowmobile is tamper-resistant, waterproof, and temperature controlled with multiple layers of logical and physical security – including encryption, fire suppression, dedicated security personnel, GPS tracking, alarm monitoring, 24/7 video surveillance, and an escort security vehicle during transit.
AWS Snowcone
Introduction
Small, rugged, secure edge computing, storage, and data transfer device
AWS Snowcone is the smallest member of the AWS Snow Family of edge computing, edge storage, and data transfer devices, weighing in at 4.5 pounds (2.1 kg) with 8 terabytes of usable storage. Snowcone is ruggedized, secure, and purpose-built for use outside of a traditional data center. Its small form factor makes it a perfect fit for tight spaces or where portability is a necessity and network connectivity is unreliable. You can use Snowcone in backpacks on first responders, or for IoT, vehicular, and drone use cases. You can execute compute applications at the edge, and you can ship the device with data to AWS for offline data transfer, or you can transfer data online with AWS DataSync from edge locations.
Like AWS Snowball, Snowcone has multiple layers of security and encryption. You can use either of these services to run edge computing workloads, or to collect, process, and transfer data to AWS. Snowcone is designed for data migration needs up to 8 terabytes per device and from space-constrained environments where AWS Snowball devices will not fit.
AWS Snowcone is currently available in the US East (N. Virginia), US West (Oregon), Europe (Ireland), and Europe (Frankfurt) Regions.
AWS Snowball
AWS Snowball
AWS Snowball Edge Developer Guide
AWS Snowball User Guide
Introduction
Petabyte-scale data transport with on-board storage and compute capabilities
AWS Snowball, a part of the AWS Snow Family, is an edge computing, data migration, and edge storage device that comes in two options. Snowball Edge Storage Optimized devices provide both block storage and Amazon S3-compatible object storage, and 40 vCPUs. They are well suited for local storage and large scale-data transfer. Snowball Edge Compute Optimized devices provide 52 vCPUs, block and object storage, and an optional GPU for use cases like advanced machine learning and full motion video analysis in disconnected environments. You can use these devices for data collection, machine learning and processing, and storage in environments with intermittent connectivity (like manufacturing, industrial, and transportation) or in extremely remote locations (like military or maritime operations) before shipping them back to AWS. These devices may also be rack mounted and clustered together to build larger temporary installations.
Snowball supports specific Amazon EC2 instance types and AWS Lambda functions, so you can develop and test in the AWS Cloud, then deploy applications on devices in remote locations to collect, pre-process, and ship the data to AWS. Common use cases include data migration, data transport, image collation, IoT sensor stream capture, and machine learning.
Snowball Edge
AWS Snowball Device Differences
| Use case | Snowball | Snowball Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Import data into Amazon S3 | ✓ | ✓ |
| Export from Amazon S3 | ✓ | ✓ |
| Durable local storage | ✓ | |
| Local compute with AWS Lambda | ✓ | |
| Amazon EC2 compute instances | ✓ | |
| Use in a cluster of devices | ✓ | |
| Use with AWS IoT Greengrass (IoT) | ✓ | |
| Transfer files through NFS with a GUI | ✓ |
Snowball
AWS Snowball Device Differences
| Use case | Snowball | Snowball Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Import data into Amazon S3 | ✓ | ✓ |
| Export from Amazon S3 | ✓ | ✓ |
| Durable local storage | ✓ | |
| Local compute with AWS Lambda | ✓ | |
| Amazon EC2 compute instances | ✓ | |
| Use in a cluster of devices | ✓ | |
| Use with AWS IoT Greengrass (IoT) | ✓ | |
| Transfer files through NFS with a GUI | ✓ |
AWS Snowmobile
Introduction
Migrate or transport exabyte-scale data sets into and out of AWS
AWS Snowmobile is an Exabyte-scale data transfer service used to move extremely large amounts of data to AWS. You can transfer up to 100PB per Snowmobile, a 45-foot long ruggedized shipping container, pulled by a semi-trailer truck. Snowmobile makes it easy to move massive volumes of data to the cloud, including video libraries, image repositories, or even a complete data center migration. Transferring data with Snowmobile is more secure, fast and cost effective.
After an initial assessment, a Snowmobile will be transported to your data center and AWS personnel will configure it for you so it can be accessed as a network storage target. When your Snowmobile is on site, AWS personnel will work with your team to connect a removable, high-speed network switch from Snowmobile to your local network and you can begin your high-speed data transfer from any number of sources within your data center to the Snowmobile. After your data is loaded, Snowmobile is driven back to AWS where your data is imported into Amazon S3.
Snowmobile uses multiple layers of security to help protect your data including dedicated security personnel, GPS tracking, alarm monitoring, 24/7 video surveillance, and an optional escort security vehicle while in transit. All data is encrypted with 256-bit encryption keys you manage through the AWS Key Management Service (KMS) and designed for security and full chain-of-custody of your data.