AWS Snow Family

Process data at the edge or move petabytes of data to and from AWS
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Benefits

Purpose-built devices to cost effectively move petabytes of data, offline. Lease a Snow device to move your data to the cloud.

Field-tested for the most extreme conditions, delivering high security and ruggedization into compute and storage-compatible devices.

Device options range to optimize for space- or weight-constrained environments, portability, and flexible networking options.

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Key features

Key features

Each feature listed below are standard features across each device type. To learn more about AWS Snowcone or AWS Snowball device specifications unique to each device type, visit their feature pages.

AWS OpsHub is a complimentary graphical user interface (GUI) available to make it easy to setup and manage Snow devices. Rapidly deploy edge computing workloads and migrate data to the cloud. Download AWS OpsHub here.

Applications can work with Snow Family devices as an NFS mount point. NFS v3 and v4.1 are supported so you can easily use Snow devices with your existing on-premises servers and file-based applications.

Snow Family devices have computing resources to collect and process data at the edge. Devices can support Amazon EC2 instances, AWS IoT Greengrass functions, and Kubernetes deployments on Amazon EKS Anywhere.

All data moved to AWS Snow Family devices is automatically encrypted with 256-bit encryption keys that are managed by the AWS Key Management Service (KMS). Encryption keys are never stored on the device so your data stays secure during transit.

AWS Snow devices feature a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) that provides a hardware root of trust. Each device is inspected after each use to ensure the integrity of the device and helps preserve the confidentiality of your data.

Once the data migration job is complete and verified, AWS performs a software erasure of the device that follows the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines for media sanitization.

Each device uses an E-Ink shipping label for easy tracking and automatic label updates for return shipping using Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS), text messages, and via the AWS Console.

Snow Family service models

AWS Snowcone

AWS Snowcone is the most compact and portable device. Weighing in at 4.5 pounds (2.1 kg) and available with SSD or HDD options, Snowcone is ruggedized, secure, and purpose-built for use outside of a traditional data center.
Learn more

AWS Snowball

AWS Snowball is available as a Compute Optimized device or a Storage Optimized device. Explore the options best suited for your needs. All devices are suited for extreme conditions, tamper proof, and highly secure.
Learn more

Feature comparison matrix

  AWS Snowcone AWS Snowball Edge Storage Optimized 80 TB AWS Snowball Edge Storage Optimized 210 TB

AWS Snowball Edge Compute Optimized
Usable HDD Storage 8 TB 80 TB HDD  N/A N/A
Usable SSD Storage 14 TB 1 TB 210 TB NVMe 28 TB
Usable vCPUs 2 vCPUs 40 vCPUs 104vCPUs 104 vCPUs
Usable Memory 4 GB  80 GB 416 GB 416 GB
Device Size 9in x 6in x 3in 548 mm x 320 mm x 501 mm 548 mm x 320 mm x 501 mm 548 mm x 320 mm x 501 mm
227 mm x 148.6 mm x 82.65 mm
Device Weight 4.5 lbs. (2.1 kg) 49.7 lbs. (22.3 kg) 49.7 lbs. (22.3 kg) 49.7 lbs. (22.3 kg)
Storage Clustering No No No Yes, 3-16 nodes
256-bit Encryption Yes Yes Yes Yes
HIPAA Compliant No Yes, eligible Yes, eligible Yes, eligible
Learn more by visiting the AWS Snow Family documentation »

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