Introduction to AWS Outposts: AWS Services On-Premises

AWS Outposts brings the full range of AWS infrastructure, services, APIs, and tools on-premises in your data center. With Outposts, you can extend your Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) into your own facilities and connect on-premises workloads back to the AWS cloud region.

Outposts provides you with AWS compute and storage capacity installed on-premises in your data center, co-location space, or on-premises facility. This allows you to run AWS services locally while seamlessly connecting back to the cloud. Outposts gives you a true hybrid experience using the exact same APIs, management tools, and infrastructure across on-premises and the AWS cloud.

Some of the key capabilities Outposts provides includes:

Extending your Amazon VPC network on-premises so you can use the same IP addresses, subnets, routers, and network management. Outposts allows you to treat your on-premises facility as an extension of your cloud-based VPC.

Running popular AWS services like Amazon ECS and Amazon EKS locally on Outposts racks. This provides you access to managed containers and Kubernetes on-premises.

Utilizing consistent AWS infrastructure on-premises that matches the latest AWS region capacity. Outposts uses the same hardware as EC2 instances and EBS volumes in the cloud.

Accessing low latency, local compute and storage when you need it for workloads that require high performance or quick access to data. Outposts provides sub-millisecond latency.

Maintaining data residency or regulatory compliance by keeping select data and workloads on-premises. Outposts allows hybrid cloud while meeting data locality laws.

What is AWS Outposts?

AWS Outposts provides racks of AWS compute and storage that allow you to run AWS infrastructure on-premises. With Outposts, you can use the same APIs, tools, infrastructure, and functionality across on-premises and cloud environments.

Key features of Outposts include:

• Extend Amazon VPC to your data center — Connect seamlessly to your cloud resources through the same subnets and IP addresses.
• Local AWS services — Run popular services like Amazon ECS and Amazon EKS locally on Outposts.
• Consistent infrastructure — Use the same hardware on-premises as in AWS public regions.
• Local compute/storage — Access low latency, local compute and storage for workloads that require it.
• Familiar AWS management — Use the same APIs, tools, and infrastructure across cloud and on-prem.

Outposts Configurations

Outposts come in standardized racks and servers that match AWS region capacity. You can choose from a variety of compute and storage options:

Outpost sizes — 1U and 2U servers, or full 42U racks.

Compute options — Amazon EC2 instances (C5, M5, R5).

Storage options — Amazon EBS and Amazon S3 local storage.

Networking — Direct Connect and VPN access back to the cloud.

AWS installs, maintains, optimizes, and replaces Outposts racks for you. Capacity is elastic based on your needs.

Use Cases

Here are some examples of when to use AWS Outposts:

Low latency access — Provide single-digit millisecond access to AWS services for latency-sensitive applications.

Local data processing — Process and analyze data locally before sending back to the cloud.

Data residency — Keep specific workloads and data on-premises for regulatory compliance.

Migration to cloud — Use Outposts as part of a cloud migration strategy.

Getting Started with Outposts

To start using Outposts, first decide on your capacity and configuration needs. Things to consider:

Supported services — Which AWS services do you need to run locally? Outposts supports Amazon ECS, Amazon EKS, Amazon EBS, and more.

Compute requirements — Estimate your CPU and memory needs. Outposts uses EC2 instance types like c5.large or m5.xlarge.

Storage requirements — How much local NVMe or S3 storage capacity is needed?

Network — Outposts can connect over Direct Connect or VPN to your VPC.

Availability — Outposts can be made highly available across multiple racks or servers.

Once you know your requirements, you can provision Outposts capacity through:

AWS Console — Use the Outposts wizard to specify your server, storage, and network needs.

AWS CLI — Use the create-outpost CLI command to define an Outpost.

AWS will install, maintain, and replace your Outposts hardware. Installation generally takes 4–8 weeks after ordering.

After deployment, you can interact with your Outposts using standard AWS tools:

AWS Console — Manage EC2, EBS, and other services for your Outpost.

AWS CLI — Use AWS CLI tools locally pointed at your Outpost.

AWS APIs — Call AWS APIs directly, using your Outpost endpoint.

AWS CloudFormation — Define Outpost infrastructure-as-code templates.

Monitor and manage your Outposts through CloudWatch, receive notifications via EventBridge, and integrate with on-prem management tools. With Outposts deployed, you have a fully native AWS environment in your on-premises facility!

AWS CLI Commands for Outposts

Here are some example AWS CLI commands for working with Outposts:

Create an Outpost:

This creates a new Outpost with the given name, site ID, and availability zones.

List Outposts:

Lists all Outposts in your account.

Describe Outpost:

Provides details about a specific Outpost.

Create EC2 instances on an Outpost:

Launches an EC2 instance on the specified Outpost ARN.

Create EBS volumes on an Outpost:

Creates a 500GB EBS volume on the defined Outpost.

Conclusion

AWS Outposts provides you the ability to run AWS infrastructure and services on-premises for a true hybrid experience. With Outposts, you can get the scalability, security, and reliability of AWS along with the low latency and data locality you need for certain workloads.

By using the same APIs and control plane across your on-premises Outposts and the AWS cloud region, you can have a seamless environment. Outposts appears as part of your cloud-based VPC and accounts.

The hardware, networking, storage, and software on Outposts matches the latest AWS cloud region capacity. AWS maintains, monitors, updates, and replaces your Outposts for you. This reduces your maintenance overhead while leveraging AWS’s infrastructure expertise.

Potential use cases for Outposts include low latency processing, local data analysis, migration to the cloud, and maintaining regulatory compliance. If you have workloads that require low latency access to data or computing near the edge along with integration back to the core cloud, Outposts is ideal.

To get started with Outposts, determine your capacity and configuration requirements, provision through the Console or CLI, then utilize the same AWS tools and APIs you use in the cloud today. With your workloads running on Outposts, you gain the benefits of the AWS cloud within your own data center.