AWS Import/Export
AWS Import/Export accelerates moving large amounts of data into and out of AWS using portable storage devices for transport. AWS transfers your data directly onto and off of storage devices using Amazon’s high-speed internal network and bypassing the Internet. For significant data sets, AWS Import/Export is often faster than Internet transfer and more cost effective than upgrading your connectivity.
AWS Import/Export supports importing and exporting data into and out of Amazon S3 buckets in the US East (N. Virginia), US West (Oregon), US West (Northern California), EU (Ireland), and Asia Pacific (Singapore) Regions. The service also supports importing data into Amazon EBS snapshots in the US East (N. Virginia), US West (Oregon), US West (Northern California), EU (Ireland), and Asia Pacific (Singapore) Regions. In addition, AWS Import/Export supports importing data into Amazon Glacier in the US East (N. Virginia), US West (Oregon), US West (Northern California), and EU (Ireland). To start using this service, click on the “Sign Up for AWS Import/Export” button.
Using AWS Import/Export
To use AWS Import/Export you simply:
- Prepare a portable storage device (see below for supported devices).
- Submit a Create Job request to AWS that includes your Amazon S3 bucket, Amazon EBS or Amazon Glacier region, AWS Access Key ID, and return shipping address. You’ll receive back a unique identifier for the job, a digital signature for authenticating your device, and an AWS address to which to ship your storage device.
- Securely identify and authenticate your device. For Amazon S3, place the signature file on the root directory of your device. For Amazon EBS or Amazon Glacier, tape the signature barcode to the exterior of the device.
- Ship your device along with its interface connectors, and power supply to AWS.
When your package arrives, it will be processed and securely transferred to an AWS data center, where your device will be attached to an AWS Import/Export station. After the data load completes, the device will be returned to you.
See the Getting Started section of our documentation for further details.
Common Uses for AWS Import/Export
AWS Import/Export makes it easy to quickly transfer large amounts of data into and out of the AWS cloud. You can use AWS Import/Export for:
- Data Migration – If you have data you need to upload into the AWS cloud for the first time, AWS Import/Export is often much faster than transferring that data via the Internet.
- Content Distribution – Send data to your customers on portable storage devices.
- Direct Data Interchange – If you regularly receive content on portable storage devices from your business associates, you can have them send it directly to AWS for import into Amazon S3 or Amazon EBS.
- Offsite Backup – Send full or incremental backups to Amazon S3 and Amazon Glacier for reliable and redundant offsite storage.
- Disaster Recovery – In the event you need to quickly retrieve a large backup stored in Amazon S3 or Amazon Glacier, use AWS Import/Export to transfer the data to a portable storage device and deliver it to your site.
Pricing
As with all AWS services, you pay only for the resources that you use. Pricing includes fees for each storage device used and for the number of hours it takes to load your data (data-loading-hours).
Estimate your AWS Import/Export charges using the AWS Import/Export Calculator.
(AWS Import/Export is sold by Amazon Web Services, Inc.)
Detailed Description
When to Use AWS Import/Export
If you have large amounts of data to load and an Internet connection with limited bandwidth, the time required to prepare and ship a portable storage device to AWS can be a small percentage of the time it would take to transfer your data over the internet. If loading your data over the Internet would take a week or more, you should consider using AWS Import/Export.
Below is a table that gives guidance around common internet connection speeds on: (1) how long it will take to transfer 1TB of data over the Internet into AWS (see the middle column for this estimate); and, (2) what volume of total data will require a week to transfer over the Internet into AWS, and therefore warrant consideration of AWS Import/Export (see the right-hand column). For example, if you have a 10Mbps connection and expect to utilize 80% of your network capacity for the data transfer, transferring 1TB of data over the Internet to AWS will take 13 days. The volume at which this same set-up will take at least a week, is 600GB, so if you have 600GB of data or more to transfer, and you want it to take less than a week to get into AWS, we recommend you using AWS Import/Export.
| Available Internet Connection | Theoretical Min. Number of Days to Transfer 1TB at 80% Network Utilization | When to Consider AWS Import/Export? |
| T1 (1.544Mbps) | 82 days | 100GB or more |
| 10Mbps | 13 days | 600GB or more |
| T3 (44.736Mbps) | 3 days | 2TB or more |
| 100Mbps | 1 to 2 days | 5TB or more |
| 1000Mbps | Less than 1 day | 60TB or more |
For more details regarding data loading costs see the AWS Import/Export Calculator.
Selecting Your Storage Device
To load your data through AWS Import/Export, you must use a compatible storage device. The storage device requirements are:| Item | Requirement |
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* An adaptor must be included for plugs other than the ones supported above
For Amazon EBS imports, if your storage device is less than or equal to the maximum volume size of 1TB, its contents will be loaded directly into an Amazon EBS snapshot. If your storage device’s capacity exceeds 1TB, a device image will be stored in your specified Amazon S3 bucket. You can then create a RAID of EBS volumes using software such as Logical Volume Manager, and copy the image from Amazon S3 to this new logical volume.
For Amazon S3, supported file systems include NTFS, ext, and FAT32. HFS is also supported for import of partitions up to 2TB in size.
AWS can often support larger and heavier devices upon request.
Each AWS Import/Export station is capable of loading data at over 100MB per second, but in most cases the rate of the data load will be bounded by a combination of the read or write speed of your device and, for Amazon S3 data loads, the average object size. Selecting devices with faster read or write speeds and interfaces can reduce data loading time. For more details regarding data loading performance see the AWS Import/Export Calculator.
While AWS Import/Export is designed to work with any storage device with a USB or eSATA connector, devices from LaCie, MicroNet, Seagate, and Western Digital have generally provided good performance.
Getting Started
You can create your first job within minutes by following the steps in the Getting Started section of our documentation.
Resources
| Developer Resources |
Additional Product Information
Related Services
Intended Usage and Restrictions
- Your use of this feature is subject to the AWS Customer Agreement.
- Devices shipped to AWS for import into or export from EU (Ireland) Region buckets must originate from and be returned to an address within the European Union.
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