AWS Snowcone : Portable Storage and Secure Edge Computing Data Transfer Device

AWS Snowcone is the smallest physical device member in Amazon’s Snow family which runs the applications,collects and processes data at the edge. It moves the data into and out of the AWS cloud with online transfer or physically sending the device to Amazon.

Device Specifications & Portability

AWS Snowcone is the smallest device from the Family of edge computing, edge storage, and data transfer devices.

It’s weight is 2.1 kg and has 8 TB of usable storage. AWS Snowcone has 2 vCPUs, 4GB RAM and 8TB HDD with which it is capable to run the workloads at the edge. It consists of two Gigabit Ethernet ports, WiFi, a USB-C type port for power, and another USB-C port for data transfer.

Snowcone has a touch screen which is an eInk-enabled for basic UI and it shows the shipping labels. The uniqueness about Snowcone is that it’s battery pack can power it.

The device can use any standard 45W+ USB-C power bank as the power source which makes it compact and versatile. AWS Snowcone is built with NFC share by which data can be uploaded and downloaded from the device.

Amazon Snowcone Working

Snowcone Workflow & Use case Scenarios :

Edge Computing : It can be used for Edge computing applications, to collect and process the data to get the current updates, and then the data will be transferred to AWS which is continuously generated by machines at any edge locations.

Use case : Medical industry customers are using Snowcone as an IoT hub to process data and transfer it to the AWS Cloud.

Data Transfer : Snowcone device can be used for Bulk data transfer into AWS offline by shipping physical devices or online with AWS DataSync. The Bulk data transfer out of AWS can be done online with AWS DataSync. Currently offline data export from AWS Snowcone is not available, but will be available in near future.

Use case : Service industry, defense and intelligence customers are using Snowcone for tactical edge scenarios, deploying Snowcones for data collection and processing data locally for current insights, and transferring the data to AWS for analysis.

Edge Storage : Snowcone devices are used to Collect and process data in edge locations, then transferred to AWS.

Use case : Media and entertainment, professional sports teams use Snowcones to collect the data at their workplaces.

Features and Benefits

Security 

A hardware-based Trusted Platform Modules (TPM) is used in AWS Snowcone to store device-specific keys where they are inaccessible to software, helping ensure the integrity of the device. Snowcone has multiple layers of security and encryption. Snowcone encrypts the data stored with two layers of at-rest encryption, which helps to protect the data stored on the device while it is being shipped.

AWS Key Management Service (KMS) is used to manage Encryption keys and are never stored on the Snowcone device. You can use these services as per your need to run edge computing workloads that use AWS IoT Greengrass or Amazon EC2 instances, or to collect, process and transfer data to AWS.

Works in any environment conditions

AWS Snowcone is built for edge computing and data storage and designed to meet stringent standards for rigid and tough environments, including rough use, operational vibration and more. This device can be used in all weather conditions with it’s best performance.

Flexible networking & data transfer 

AWS Snowcone provides the edge computing, data transfer, and edge storage use cases. You can collect data at the edge location, process it with AWS IoT Greengrass or Amazon EC2 instance AMIs, and Snowcone’s Wi-Fi or wired 10 GbE networking. You can move this data to AWS as and when you need. You can use data online with AWS DataSync or physically transport the device with data to AWS for offline data transfer.

Portable edge computing

AWS Snowcone can be deployed virtually anywhere you need it. With it’s portable size you can carry it in a backpack and use it in any vehicle or even connect it to a drone.

Uniform Performance

You can use the AWS Snowcone to deploy the test functions and applications in the cloud developed and tested with AWS IoT Greengrass and Amazon EC2 instances at the edge locations. You can also update the applications by simply shipping a new Snowcone on-site and swap it in.

Availability : AWS Snowcone is currently available in the US East (N. Virginia), US West (Oregon), and Europe (Ireland) Regions.

References: Official Amazon Website