While there are many use cases for AWS Local Zones, the drivers behind all of them boil down to three things.
Reduced latency
In today’s digital landscape, many tasks, including medical image processing, real-time gaming, telco virtualization, and enterprise transactions, necessitate fast access to compute power with minimal lag.
Figure 6.2 – Customers in Texas face latency challenges to any full region
For users in the same metropolitan vicinity, AWS Local Zones provide low, single-digit millisecond latency. The latency between Local Zones and AWS Regions or Local Zones and on-premises environments varies, though it remains consistently under 10 milliseconds. The precise latency value, however, can vary based on factors such as the distance to the Local Zone and the chosen connection method, whether public internet, VPN, or AWS Direct Connect.
Figure 6.3 – Customers in Austin can benefit from the zones in Dallas and Houston
Many customers have transitioned their on-site workstations to AWS, reaping benefits in terms of content development speed, enhanced security, and efficient operations. Some of these workstations replace high-powered desktops with sizable GPU cards for tasks such as media content development. Especially in these cases, an optimal remote working experience demands less than five milliseconds of latency to their AWS-based virtual instances. With AWS Local Zones, these latency requirements can be accommodated. For instance, Netflix leverages G4dn-family EC2 instances running in AWS Local Zones for their media editing and other content creation tasks.
Data localization
Certain industries, such as healthcare, finance, energy, or the public sector, often need to store data within specific geographic confines for regulatory reasons. Local Zones bring AWS closer or within a customer’s geographic boundary in a fully AWS-owned and operated mode and can therefore help them meet data residency requirements.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a stringent set of rules and penalties instituted by the European Union to safeguard the personal data and privacy of EU citizens. Its inception has steered organizations worldwide across all industries to re-assess their data management practices. The next figure illustrates which EU member countries have access to full AWS regions or AWS Local Zones. It also highlights those countries where AWS Outposts is a necessity:
Figure 6.4 – AWS Regions, AWS Local Zones, and AWS Outposts by EU member country
Keep in mind that the applicability of any service for a given compliance regime depends on many factors. It is important to work closely with your compliance and information security teams when choosing the AWS Local Zone location in which to deploy your regulated workloads.
Some customers, such as those in the financial services industry, benefit from AWS Local Zones in multiple ways. Payment processing requires consistent low-latency data transfer. Otherwise, the user experience suffers, which can translate to direct and measurable financial loss. Simultaneously, there are often regulatory requirements imposing data to be handled and/or stored in a specific geographic location.
Such dual requirements are even more stringent in regulated gaming. For example, the United States Federal Wire Act makes it illegal to facilitate bets or wagers on sporting events across state lines. This regulation requires that operators make sure that users who place bets in a specific state are also within the borders of that state. At the same time, the timing of transactions is even more important—gamblers and casino owners alike aren’t known for their patience.