AWS opens GovCloud data centres on US East Coast
Tue 13 Nov 2018
AWS has officially opened its latest high-security GovCloud data centres on the US East Coast
Plans for the latest crop of government-catered data centres were announced by AWS last year, as part of plans to expand the existing GovCloud region launched in 2011.
AWS is the leading cloud provider for US intelligence services. In 2013 details of a $600 million contract between the firm and the CIA surfaced, revealing Amazon had agreed to operate a cloud purpose-built for classified information.
Four years later the initiative expanded under “AWS Secret Region”, broadening the range of government agencies serviced.
The cloud provider is also rumoured to be on the verge of winning the US Defense Department’s $10 billion JEDI project.
AWS GovCloud provides federal, state, and local government agencies regulated workloads with fine-tuned security, reliability, and backup features. AWS says GovCloud is an “isolated” US-operated AWS region and only permits vetted US citizens or residents access.
Many types of applications are currently hosted on AWS GovCloud, including enterprise apps from Oracle and SAP, and HPC clusters for large data sets, backup and storage.
AWS also announced plans to open new data centres in Italy in 2020. The new AWS region, located near Milan, will comprise three availability zones, and will take AWS’s European total to six, joining regions France, Germany, Ireland, the UK, and Sweden.
“For thousands of years, Italians have been the architects of some of the most innovative and ground-breaking technical and artistic feats,” said Andy Jassy, Chief Executive Officer, Amazon Web Services.
“We’ve been amazed with how Italian companies have invented on top of AWS thus far, but believe an AWS Region in Italy makes it even easier for Italian companies and government organizations to reinvent and evolve customer and citizen experiences for many decades to come.”
AWS’s aggressive expansion is part is its push for global cloud dominance. Aside from its European expansion, AWS is constructing data centres in Bahrain, Hong Kong, Sweden, and Cape Town.
Although Amazon might be a household name for its internet retail arm, its cloud platform generates more than 10 percent of Amazon’s overall revenue, and generated an eye-watering $17 billion in 2017 alone.
