AWS Snow Family - Migrate Data to AWS Offline?

Overview

The AWS Snow Family consists of highly secure, portable devices designed to collect, process data at the edge, and migrate data into and out of AWS. These devices are ideal for environments with limited or no internet connectivity or where data transfer via the internet is slow or expensive.

Devices in the AWS Snow Family

AWS Snowcone

• The smallest device in the Snow Family.
• Storage capacity: 8 to 14 terabytes.
• Ideal for small-scale migrations (terabyte-level).
• Best used for small data migration, edge computing, or lightweight workloads.

AWS Snowball Edge

• Larger device compared to Snowcone, available in two types: Storage Optimized: Focuses on bulk data transfer. Compute Optimized: Supports EC2 instances and Lambda functions for edge computing.
• Storage capacity: Ranges from 80 TB to 210 TB.
• Suitable for petabyte-scale migrations where multiple Snowball Edge devices can be used.
• Ideal for large-scale data migrations or edge computing with significant processing power.

Why Use AWS Snow Devices?

AWS Snow devices are invaluable when dealing with large-scale data transfers. Consider a scenario where we need to move 100 terabytes of data over a 1 Gbps connection, it could take approximately 12 days and can use our entire bandwidth.

Factors such as limited connectivity, bandwidth constraints, high network costs, or connection instability are big problems and make Snow Family devices essential.

As a rule of thumb, if transferring data over the network takes more than a week, we should opt for AWS Snow devices.

Data Migration Process

Order the Device: Request a Snowcone or Snowball Edge from the AWS Management Console.

Install AWS OpsHub: Use AWS OpsHub or Snowball Clients to connect the device to our servers.

Load Data: Transfer data from our server to the device.

Ship Back to Amazon: Return the device to AWS, where our data will be loaded into an Amazon S3 bucket.

Wipe Data: After successful data transfer, AWS securely wipes the device for reuse.

Edge Computing with AWS Snow Family

Edge computing allows data to be processed where it is created, in austere (non–data center) edge environments, or where there is a lack of consistent network connectivity. These locations often lack the space, power, and cooling needed for data center IT equipment.

• Snowcone: Supports basic edge computing with minimal processing power.
• Snowball Edge: Offers compute-optimized devices that support EC2 instances and AWS Lambda for running applications directly on the device.

Use cases for edge computing include:

• Pre-processing data before sending it to AWS.
• Machine learning and real-time data analysis at the edge.
• Transcoding media while it's being transported to AWS.

Conclusion

The AWS Snow Family provides versatile solutions for data migration and edge computing. Whether we need to move terabytes or petabytes of data, or process data in remote locations, the Snow Family offers secure, efficient, and scalable options with Snowcone and Snowball Edge devices.