Amazon Web Services has announced a new Edge computing device, AWS Snowcone.

Snowcone weighs 4.5 pounds and includes 8 terabytes of usable storage.

The new edge device is just 9 inches long, 6 inches wide and 3 inches tall (22.8, 15.2, 7.6cm respectively). It has been designed to fit neatly with anything from data centers, desktops, messenger bags, vehicles, and in parallel with drones.

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The Snowcone device (right) – AWS

Let it snow

As a temporary device, system can be used for storage or processing in remote areas. Snowcone features two CPUs, 8TB of storage, and 4GB of RAM.

According to AWS chief evangelist Jeff Barr, Snowcone is designed for data migration, content distribution, tactical edge computing, healthcare IoT, industrial IoT, transportation, logistics, and autonomous vehicle use cases.

The device enclosure uses a Trusted Platform Module designed to ensure data security. The device encrypts data at rest and in transit using keys that are managed by AWS's Key Management Service (KMS) and are never stored on the device.

The AWS Snow range of devices are rented for a set number of days. Currently, you can only rent the device in the US for around $60 per hire and $6 a day. Orders from AWS are open.

It is considerably smaller than the AWS Snowmobile, an 18-wheeler semi-trailer truck that will carry 100 petabyte (100PB) in a shipping container.

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