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AWS Outposts racks Hardware Specs

Standard Configuration (2nd Generation)

Outposts rack

Outposts Rack Details

A logical Outpost deployment consists of one or more Outposts compute racks connected to an Outposts network rack. Inside the Outposts racks, we have hosts, switches, network patch panels, power shelves, and blank panels. Outposts racks are designed for high availability with redundant network switches and power connections. You can also provision your Outpost compute racks with additional capacity for resiliency.

AWS delivers the Outposts racks to your preferred physical site fully assembled and ready to be rolled into final position. They are installed by AWS and the racks need to be simply plugged into power and network.

Run AWS Services locally on your Outposts rack

Run same AWS APIs & tools as in the AWS Region

 

 

 

Hosts

Details

Each Outposts compute rack comes pre-configured with a mix of EC2 instance capacity and EBS storage volumes that you choose from a pre-curated catalog of configurations.

The hosts populating the Outposts compute rack are typically 1U or 2U and 21 inches wide.

Supported EC2 instances include

  • General Purpose M7i

  • Compute Intensive C7i

  • Memory Intensive R7i

Support for more EC2 instances, including GPU-enabled instances, is coming soon.

Networking

Networking

Seamlessly extend your existing Amazon VPC from an AWS Region to an Outpost in your on-premises location. Use the same VPC components that are accessible in the Region including internet gateways, virtual private gateways, Amazon VPC Transit Gateways, and VPC endpoints. After installation, you can create a subnet in your regional VPC and associate it with an Outpost just as you associate subnets with an Availability Zone in an AWS Region. Instances in Outpost subnets communicate with other instances in the AWS Region using private IP addresses, all within the same VPC.

Outpost network rack

Each logical Outpost deployment comes with an Outposts network rack, which acts as a network aggregation point for one or more Outposts compute racks. With this architecture, you can decouple the scaling of compute resources from networking, letting you optimize costs by expanding only what your specific workloads require. The network rack also comes with built-in resiliency to handle network device failures, simplifying high availability design. An Outposts network rack includes four physical networking devices, which need to be connected to two or four upstream customer devices with a minimum of four physical links (one per networking device).

Patch panels

AWS Outposts rack supports the following uplink speeds and quantities for each Outposts rack network device.

Uplink speed
Number of uplinks
10 Gbps
1, 2, 3, 4
40 Gbps
1, 2, 3, 4
100 Gbps
1, 2, 3, 4

Outpost network rack

The uplink speed and quantity are symmetrical on each Outposts network rack. If you use 100 Gbps as the uplink speed, you must configure the link with forward error correction (FEC CL91). Outpost racks can support single-mode fiber (SMF) with Lucent Connector (LC), multimode fiber (MMF), or MMF OM4 with LC. AWS provides the optics that are compatible with the fiber that you provide at the rack position.

Power

Outposts racks use a centralized redundant power conversion unit and a DC distribution system in the backplane. This is handled with line mate connectors so IT personnel need to just snap the host or switch into place to provide power. This improves reliability, cost, serviceability, and energy efficiency.

Redundant centralized power conversion unit

The Outposts compute rack power shelf supports three power configurations. The configuration of the power shelf depends on how the host capacity is racked. The Outposts network rack power shelf supports one power configuration.

Bus bar

A central power bus bar in the back to distribute power to each server. We have whips supporting a variety of common power types.

Power connectors

Each Outposts compute rack supports 10KVA-30KVA power supply and redundant feeds. Each Outposts network rack requires 8.89 KVA power supply.

Power configurations for an Outposts compute rack

The power shelf has two inputs, S1 and S2, that can be configured as follows.

Configuration
Redundant, single phase
Redundant, three phase
Single phase
Three phase
10 kVA

4 x L6-30P or IEC309, 2 drop to S1 and 2 drop to S2

2 x AH530P7W or AH532P6W, 1 drop to S1 and 1 drop to S2

2 x L6-30P or IEC309, 2 drop to S1

1 x AH530P7W or AH532P6W, 1 drop to S1

15 kVA

6 x L6-30P or IEC309, 3 drops to S1 and 3 drops to S2

2 x AH530P7W or AH532P6W, 1 drop to S1 and 1 drop to S2

3 x L6-30P or IEC309, 3 drops to S1

1 x AH530P7W or AH532P6W, 1 drop to S1

30 kVA (dual power shelves)

12 x L6-30P or IEC309, 3 drops to S1 and 3 drops to S2 on two power shelves

4 x AH530P7W or AH532P6W or CS8365C, 1 drop to S1 and 1 drop to S2 on two power shelves

6 x L6-30P or IEC309, 3 drops to S1 on two power shelves

6 x L6-30P or IEC309, 3 drops to S1 on two power shelves

Power configuration for the Outposts network rack

The Outposts network rack draws 8.89 kVA and supports redundant single and three phase power drops that can be configured as follows.

Configuration
Redundant, single phase
Redundant, three phase
Single phase
Three phase
10 kVA
4 x L6-30P or IEC309, 2 drop to S1 and 2 drop to S2
2 x AH530P7W or AH532P6W, 1 drop to S1 and 1 drop to S2
2 x L6-30P or IEC309, 2 drop to S1
1 x AH530P7W or AH532P6W, 1 drop to S1

Power configuration for the Outposts network rack

AC line voltage
Single phase 208 to 277 VAC (50 or 60 Hz) or wye three phase 346 to 480 VAC (50 to 60 Hz) or delta three phase 208 to 230 VAC (50 to 60 Hz)
Power consumption
10 kVA (9 kW), 15 kVA (13 kW), or 30kVA (26kW)
AC protection (upstream power breakers)
30 or 32 or 50 A
AC inlet type (receptable)
Single phase L6-30P (30A) or IEC309 P+N+E, 6 hour (32 A), three phase AH530P7W 3P+N+E, 7 hour (30A), or three phase AH532P6W 3P+N+E 6 hour (32 A), or three phase Non-NEMA twistlock Hubbell CS8365C, 3P+E, center ground (50A)
Whip length
10.25 ft (3 m)
Whip - Rack cabling input
From above or below

Security

AWS is responsible for protecting the infrastructure of Outposts racks similar to how it secures infrastructure in the AWS Regions today. Customers are responsible for securing their applications running on Outposts racks as they do in the Region today.

Additionally, customers are responsible for the physical security of their Outpost racks, and for ensuring consistent networking to the Outpost.

Lockable door

Each Outposts rack comes with built-in tamper detection. It is an enclosed rack with a lockable door.

Nitro Cards

Every host on an Outposts rack has a Nitro Chip. The Nitro System enables the most secure cloud platform that continuously monitors, protects, and verifies the instance hardware and firmware. Virtualization resources are offloaded to dedicated hardware and software minimizing the attack surface. Finally, Nitro System's security model is locked down and prohibits all administrative access, including those of Amazon employees, eliminating the possibility of human error and tampering.

Encryption key

AWS ensures that all your data is protected and remains in your control. All data is encrypted at rest in the Nitro System that is present in every host. The encryption key is wrapped to an external key stored in a removable device. This removable device is present in every host on the Outposts rack. Destroying the device is equivalent to destroying the data.

At the end of your Outposts rack term, when AWS removes the rack from the premises, you will also be required to destroy the device. This ensures your data won’t leave the premises.