AWS Snowball | General Flashcards
What is AWS Snowball?
General
AWS Snowball | Storage
AWS Snowball is a data transport solution that accelerates moving terabytes to petabytes of data into and out of AWS using storage appliances designed to be secure for physical transport. Using Snowball helps to eliminate challenges that can be encountered with large-scale data transfers including high network costs, long transfer times, and security concerns.
How does Snowball work?
General
AWS Snowball | Storage
AWS Snowball uses secure appliances and the Snowball client to accelerate petabyte-scale data transfers into and out of AWS. You start by using the AWS Management Console to create one or more jobs to request one or multiple Snowball appliances (depending on how much data you need to transfer), and download and install the Snowball client. Once the appliance arrives, connect it to your local network, set the IP address either manually or with DHCP, and use the client to identify the directories you want to copy. The client will automatically encrypt and copy the data to the appliance and notify you when the transfer job is complete. When the transfer is complete and the appliance is ready to be returned, the E Ink shipping label will automatically update to indicate the correct AWS facility to ship to, and you can track the job status by using Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS), text messages, or directly in the console.
Who should use Snowball?
General
AWS Snowball | Storage
Snowball is the right data transfer choice if you need to securely and quickly transfer terabytes to many petabytes of data to AWS. Snowball can also be the right choice if you don’t want to make expensive upgrades to your network infrastructure, if you frequently experience large backlogs of data, if you’re located in a physically isolated environment, or if you’re in an area where high-bandwidth Internet connections are not available or cost-prohibitive.
How much data can I transfer using Snowball?
General
AWS Snowball | Storage
You can transfer virtually any amount of data with Snowball, from a few terabytes to many petabytes. You can typically transfer multiple TB of data to each Snowball appliance. You can transfer larger data sets by using multiple Snowballs, either in parallel, or one after another. For example, you can transfer 100 TB of data using two Snowballs in parallel, or you can transfer the data using two Snowballs one after another.
What is the Snowball client?
General
AWS Snowball | Storage
The Snowball client is software that you install on a local host computer and use to efficiently identify, compress, encrypt, and transfer data from the directories you specify to a Snowball.
How long does it take to transfer my data?
General
AWS Snowball | Storage
You can use the Snowball client to estimate the time it takes to transfer your data (refer to the user guide for more details). Data transfer speed is affected by a number of factors including local network speed, file size, and the speed at which data can be read from your local servers.
The Snowball client will copy data to the Snowball as fast as conditions allow, (as little as a day to copy 48TB of data, depending on your local environment). End-to-end time to transfer the data into AWS is approximately a week, including the usual shipping and handling time in AWS data centers. You can copy twice that much data in the same amount of time by using two 48TB Snowballs in parallel, or you could copy 80TB of data in two and a half days on a single 80TB Snowball, which would increase your end-to-end time to about a week and a half.
What are the specifications on the Snowball appliance?
General
AWS Snowball | Storage
Check this Snowball documentation page for the complete list of hardware specs, including interfaces, thermal and power requirements, decibel output, and dimensions.
How long can I have a Snowball for a specific job?
General
AWS Snowball | Storage
For security purposes, data transfers must be completed within 90 days of a Snowball’s preparation.
What network interfaces does Snowball support?
General
AWS Snowball | Storage
Snowball has 10Gbps network interfaces with RJ45, SFP+ copper, and SFP+ optical network ports.
