With its edge computing ambitions, Amazon Web Services is going global. AWS will deploy edge infrastructure in 32 cities worldwide as part of its Local Zones program, expanding on the 16 existing zones in the United States.
The massive expansion indicates that edge computing infrastructure spending is starting to pick up. The AWS announcement comes just one day after
, one of the leading-edge computing firms, announced that it will buy Linode for $900 million to expand the reach and capabilities of its dispersed global network.The Local Zones, according to AWS, will let clients install low-latency applications in new markets while also meeting data residency requirements in regulated industries like health care, finance, and government.
Prasad Kalyanaraman, who serves the role of Vice President of Infrastructure Services at AWS, had the following to say:
The edge of the cloud is expanding and is now becoming available virtually everywhere. Thousands of AWS customers using U.S.-based AWS Local Zones are able to optimize low-latency applications designed specifically for their industries and the use cases of their customers. With the success of our first 16 Local Zones, we are expanding to more locations for our customers around the world who have asked for these same capabilities to push the edge of cloud services to new places.
Today’s announcement also adds to CTO Werner Vogels’ statement at AWS: Invent last November, listing the new markets where AWS will build zones, as well as a list of high-profile customers who would be early adopters, including Netflix and a group of gaming firms.
Today we announced the completion of 16 #AWS Local Zones in the US and plans for 32 more to be built globally. Local Zones offer ultra-low latency at the edge of the cloud—awesome for gaming, streaming, ML, more!https://t.co/CFHmBI8zrK
— Adam Selipsky (@aselipsky) February 17, 2022
Amazon’s cloud computing platform is powered by a giant global network of data centers, with the majority of its capacity concentrated in clusters of big campuses in critical network hubs like Northern Virginia. AWS is building a more dispersed architecture with Local Zones to support edge computing and low-latency applications.
Going on, Amazon’s edge computing approach relies heavily on AWS Outposts and Local Zones. AWS Outposts are racks that contain turnkey AWS cloud infrastructure, allowing businesses to construct hybrid clouds in their own data centers. Local Zones, which are regional facilities filled with Outposts, will also drive Amazon’s push into edge computing.
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, and Seattle are among the 16 North American markets where AWS Local Zones are now accessible.
New AWS Local Zones will be available in Amsterdam, Athens, Auckland, Bangkok, Bengaluru, Berlin, Bogotá, Brisbane, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Chennai, Copenhagen, Delhi, Hanoi, Helsinki, Johannesburg, Kolkata, Lima, Lisbon, Manila, Munich, Nairobi, Oslo, Perth, Prague, Querétaro, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Toronto, Vancouver, Vienna, and Warsaw beginning this year. The whole deployment will take place between 2022 and 2023, according to the business.
Netflix, which has 214 million paid users in over 190 countries and is one of the most well-known AWS customers, is one of the most well-known AWS clients. Netflix’s interest in employing edge computing to bring new economies to TV and film production, changing the way large video files are maintained and shared, was previously reported. Netflix has partnered with
(AWS) to virtualize key aspects of its visual effects operations, utilizing low-latency cloud access to virtual supply desktops for rendering and animation workloads.Stephen Kowalski, who serves the role of Director of Digital Production Infrastructure Engineering at Netflix, had the following to say:
(Visual) artists need specialized hardware and access to petabytes of images to create stunning visual effects and animations. Historically, artists had specialized machines built for them at their desks; now, we are working to move their workstations to AWS to take advantage of the cloud. In order to provide a good working experience for our artists, they need low latency access to their virtual workstations. AWS Local Zones brings cloud resources closer to our artists and has been a game-changer for these applications. By taking advantage of AWS Local Zones, we have migrated a portion of our content creation process to AWS while ensuring an even better experience for artists. We are excited about the expansion of AWS Local Zones globally, which brings cloud resources closer to creators, allowing artists to get to work anywhere in the world and create without boundaries.
AWS also shared examples of customers using Local Zones in other industries like Music, Gaming, Esports, and Database Access.
