AWS GovCloud (US) FAQs

Q. What is Amazon Web Services?

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides agencies and businesses with an infrastructure web services platform in the cloud. With AWS you can requisition compute, storage, and other services – gaining access to a suite of secure, scalable, and flexible IT infrastructure services as your agency or business demands them. With AWS, you pay only for what you use, making AWS a cost-effective way to deliver your applications.

Q. What is AWS GovCloud (US)?

AWS GovCloud (US) is designed to address specific regulatory and compliance requirements of US government agencies at the federal, state, and local level, as well as contractors, educational institutions, and other U.S. customers that run sensitive workloads in the cloud. Beyond the assurance programs applicable to all AWS Regions, the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions allow customers to adhere to U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), and Department of Defense (DoD) Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide (SRG) Impact Levels 2, 4, and 5. Visit the Compliance Programs page for a complete list of U.S. compliance standards supported by AWS GovCloud (US).

Q. What is the AWS GovCloud (US) network?

The AWS GovCloud (US) network consists of AWS’s internal data center facilities, servers, networking equipment, and host software systems that are within AWS’s reasonable control, which are used to provide AWS services in the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions.

Q. Where are the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions located?

The AWS GovCloud (US) Regions are located in the Eastern and Northwestern parts of the United States. See our Regions map for more information.

Q. Do the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions have a FedRAMP JAB P-ATO?

Yes. Two FedRAMP Joint Authorization Board P-ATOs have been issued; one covers the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions, and the other covers the AWS US East/West Regions. Customers can immediately request access to the FedRAMP package using AWS Artifact. Government customers can request access to the "Amazon Web Services - AWS GovCloud (US) Regions" FedRAMP package by submitting a request on the Compliance Contact Us Request Form.

Q. Does AWS GovCloud (US) offer better security than other AWS Regions?

AWS GovCloud (US) offers the same high level of security as other AWS Regions and supports existing AWS security controls and certifications. These controls can be found on the AWS Compliance page. The AWS GovCloud (US) Regions are maintained by U.S. citizens only and provide customers with the ability to access the regions through FIPS 140-2 service endpoints.

Q. What are the ITAR requirements?

The ITAR is the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which is a set of United States government regulations that control the export and temporary import of defense articles, services, and related technical data. The ITAR requires that ITAR-controlled defense articles, services, and related technical data can only be shared with non-U.S. persons when approved by a valid U.S. Department of State authorization. AWS manages the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions using U.S. citizens and enables customers to architect solutions in the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions involving ITAR data (with due consideration to the customer’s shared responsibility for export-control compliance).

Q. Are the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions ITAR certified?

Unlike ISO 27001, there is no formal ITAR certification. However, AWS has conducted a third-party review of the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions and our FedRAMP authorizations attest to the controls in place within the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions to ensure AWS supports customers building ITAR compliant systems on AWS.

Q. Does the ITAR apply to AWS as a cloud service provider?

As a cloud service provider, AWS is not an exporter of data as contemplated by the relevant agencies enforcing the ITAR and other export control laws. AWS supports customers with ITAR requirements by restricting access to the AWS GovCloud (US) network controlled by AWS to U.S. citizens. This facilitates a customer’s management of their own compliance obligations while processing and storing data in the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions.

Q. How do Government agencies, contractors, and customers access the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions?

AWS GovCloud (US) requires a separate account ID and user access credentials in addition to those required for an associated standard AWS account. Access is restricted to customers who are U.S. persons, not subject to export restrictions, and who comply with US export control laws and regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Qualified customers can request access to AWS GovCloud (US) from the AWS Management Console of a standard AWS account or by contacting an AWS business representative.

Q. Do all government agencies need to use AWS GovCloud (US)?

No. AWS GovCloud (US) is provided for entities that choose, or are required, to utilize a U.S. persons only cloud environment. Agencies that do not want to use a U.S. persons only environment can use our other AWS Regions, which provide FISMA-Moderate controls.

Q. Do agencies have to sign a contract to use AWS GovCloud (US)?

Yes. Agencies must sign a customer agreement and an agreement specific to AWS GovCloud (US) to access the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions. Please contact your AWS business representative, or fill out the AWS GovCloud (US) Contact Us form.

Q. What are AWS GovCloud (US) use cases?

AWS GovCloud (US) can be used to power a wide variety of IT applications and workloads, including enterprise applications (Oracle, SAP, Microsoft Windows Server, etc.), high performance computing (HPC), storage, disaster recovery, and web applications workloads. 

Q. What services are available in AWS GovCloud (US)?

See the AWS GovCloud (US) Product Details page for the list of available services in the regions.

Q. How do I get to the AWS Management Console for the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions?

Login to the AWS Management Console for the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions. To learn more about how to setup your unique login credentials for console access, please visit the AWS GovCloud (US) User Guide.

Q. How do I set up AWS Direct Connect for the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions?

See the AWS GovCloud (US) User Guide for detailed instructions on how to set up an AWS Direct Connect connection for the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions.

Q. Is IPV6 available in AWS GovCloud (US)?

Yes, IPV6 is available in AWS GovCloud (US) for Elastic Load Balancers (ELB), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), and Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC).

AWS Support is available in all regions, including AWS GovCloud (US). As an AWS GovCloud (US) customer, you have access to AWS Support engineers 24 hours a day by email, chat, and phone. By default, support cases might be assigned to support engineers outside the US who are skilled in the service selected. When access to restricted resources is required in support of the case, US-based engineers are available to assist.

To sign up for AWS Support, visit the support sign up page and select a plan using the standard AWS root account credentials that are associated with your AWS GovCloud (US) account.

Q. What types of customer service and support are provided for the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions?

Customer Service is available 24/7/365 to answer any billing or account related questions. AWS GovCloud (US) customers can choose from Developer-level, Business-level, or Enterprise-level technical support. If ITAR compliance is a priority, AWS suggests choosing Business or Enterprise Support. Business-level support provides 24/7/365 phone, chat, and email support with a one-hour response, support for third-party software, and architecture support. Enterprise-level support customers receive additional benefits with a 15-minute response time and are assigned a Technical Account Manager (TAM).

View the AWS GovCloud (US) Service Health Dashboard for up-to-the-minute information on service availability in the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions. The Service Health Dashboard for the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions is available for all customers.

Q. How do I sign up for technical support?

To sign up for AWS Support, visit the support sign up page and select a plan using the standard AWS root account credentials that are associated with your AWS GovCloud (US) account.

Q. What are the differences between Business and Enterprise level Support for the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions?

You can compare support plans here.

Q. How do I increase resource limits in the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions?

By default, AWS maintains limits for certain resources in your AWS GovCloud (US) account. For example, accounts have a limit on the number of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances that can be launched. You can see your current limits and request limit increases on the Limits Page in the Amazon EC2 console. When you request a limit increase, specify your AWS GovCloud (US) account ID and select the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions from the region drop-down list. For more information, see AWS Service Limits.

Q. How can I access customer service and support for the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions?

Support can be obtained by navigating to the Support Center. Log in using your master AWS account, create a case, and indicate that your question or issue is in regard to the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions.

Q. Where can I get more information about Support?

• Read more about AWS Support Options at AWS Support Options.
• Reference AWS Documentation.

Q. How much does AWS GovCloud (US) cost?

AWS GovCloud (US) provides customers with a choice in how they want to purchase our services. AWS GovCloud (US) costs are based on the quantity of services used and the payment model utilized to procure these services.

The on-demand and reserved pricing models available in the traditional AWS cloud are also available in the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions. In addition, Reserved Instances (RI) are available in the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions for Amazon EC2 and AWS data transfer services. Reserved Instance pricing allow AWS GovCloud (US) customers the option to make a one-time fixed payment for each service they want to reserve. After the one-time payment, customers can utilize that service for the duration of their term with no additional payment as long as they don’t exceed the usage they have paid for.