AWS Direct Connect vs AWS Snowball Edge

Overview

AWS Direct Connect

Stacks39

Followers61

Votes0

AWS Snowball Edge

Stacks5

Followers51

Votes1

AWS Direct Connect vs AWS Snowball Edge: What are the differences?

Introduction: AWS Direct Connect and AWS Snowball Edge are two services provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that offer different ways to transfer data. While both services are designed to assist with data migration and transfer, they have key differences in terms of their functionality and use cases.

Connectivity Method: AWS Direct Connect provides a dedicated network connection between an on-premises data center and the AWS cloud. It offers a high-speed, low-latency connection that bypasses the public internet. On the other hand, AWS Snowball Edge is a physical device that allows for offline data transfer. It provides a portable storage appliance that can be shipped to the data source location, where data can be loaded onto it and then transported to an AWS data center for ingestion.
Data Transfer Capability: AWS Direct Connect enables a consistent and reliable high-speed connection for large-scale data transfer. It supports both bulk transfer and streaming use cases, making it suitable for applications that require real-time data transfer or low latency. In contrast, AWS Snowball Edge physically transports data using the device itself. It is ideal for large data sets that would take a significant amount of time to transfer over the internet. Additionally, Snowball Edge supports local compute and storage capabilities, allowing for data processing at the edge before transferring it to the AWS cloud.
Transfer Speed: With AWS Direct Connect, data transfer speeds can reach up to 100 Gbps. It provides a high-bandwidth link that ensures fast and efficient data transfer between the on-premises environment and AWS. On the other hand, AWS Snowball Edge offers a maximum data transfer rate of up to 40 Gbps, depending on the specific model. While Snowball Edge may not provide the same level of speed as Direct Connect, it offers the advantage of offline data transfer, which can be faster in scenarios where internet connectivity is limited or unreliable.
Data Volume: AWS Direct Connect allows for the transfer of large volumes of data, without the limitations of internet bandwidth or usage charges. It can be used to transfer petabytes of data over the dedicated network connection. In contrast, AWS Snowball Edge has physical storage capacities varying from 42 TB up to 100 TB, depending on the model. This makes it suitable for scenarios where large data sets need to be transported securely and efficiently, but not for extremely large-scale data migrations that require petabytes of storage.
Data Processing and Edge Computing: AWS Direct Connect primarily focuses on providing a reliable and high-speed connection for data transfer, without built-in data processing or compute capabilities. It is designed to facilitate the transfer of data between on-premises environments and AWS. On the other hand, AWS Snowball Edge includes built-in compute and storage capabilities. It allows for running AWS Lambda functions at the edge and performing local data processing tasks before sending data to the cloud. This makes Snowball Edge suitable for scenarios where data needs to be processed or transformed before being transferred to AWS.
Cost Structure and Pricing: AWS Direct Connect involves a cost structure based on the amount of data transferred and the duration of the connection. It offers pricing options including "pay-as-you-go" and "reserved capacity." Meanwhile, AWS Snowball Edge has a different pricing model that includes charges for both data transfer and device usage. The cost of a Snowball Edge device and the return shipping fees also need to be considered. It is important to assess the cost implications of each service based on the specific data transfer requirements and volume.

In summary, AWS Direct Connect provides a dedicated network connection for real-time, high-speed data transfer between on-premises environments and the AWS cloud, while AWS Snowball Edge offers a physical device for offline data transfer, local processing, and edge computing capabilities. The choice between these services depends on factors such as data volume, transfer speed, connectivity requirements, and the need for edge computing capabilities.

Share your Stack

Help developers discover the tools you use. Get visibility for your team's tech choices and contribute to the community's knowledge.

View Docs

CLI (Node.js)

Manual

Detailed Comparison

AWS Direct Connect	AWS Snowball Edge
AWS Direct Connect makes it easy to establish a dedicated network connection from your premises to AWS. Using AWS Direct Connect, you can establish private connectivity between AWS and your datacenter, office, or colocation environment, which in many cases can reduce your network costs, increase bandwidth throughput, and provide a more consistent network experience than Internet-based connections.	AWS Snowball Edge is a 100TB data transfer device with on-board storage and compute capabilities. You can use Snowball Edge to move large amounts of data into and out of AWS, as a temporary storage tier for large local datasets, or to support local workloads in remote or offline locations.
Reduces Your Bandwidth Costs – If you have bandwidth-heavy workloads that you wish to run in AWS, AWS Direct Connect reduces your network costs into and out of AWS in two ways. First, by transferring data to and from AWS directly, you can reduce your bandwidth commitment to your Internet service provider. Second, all data transferred over your dedicated connection is charged at the reduced AWS Direct Connect data transfer rate rather than Internet data transfer rates.;Consistent Network Performance – Network latency over the Internet can vary given that the Internet is constantly changing how data gets from point A to B. With AWS Direct Connect, you choose the data that utilizes the dedicated connection and how that data is routed which can provide a more consistent network experience over Internet-based connections.;Compatible with all AWS Services – AWS Direct Connect is a network service, and works with all AWS services that are accessible over the Internet, such as Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), and Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC).	-
Statistics
Stacks 39	Stacks 5
Followers 61	Followers 51
Votes 0	Votes 1
Pros & Cons
No community feedback yet	Pros 1 SBManager™ is the only commercially available GUI for t
Integrations
No integrations available	Amazon SNS

What are some alternatives to AWS Direct Connect, AWS Snowball Edge?

AWS Data Pipeline

AWS Data Pipeline is a web service that provides a simple management system for data-driven workflows. Using AWS Data Pipeline, you define a pipeline composed of the “data sources” that contain your data, the “activities” or business logic such as EMR jobs or SQL queries, and the “schedule” on which your business logic executes. For example, you could define a job that, every hour, runs an Amazon Elastic MapReduce (Amazon EMR)–based analysis on that hour’s Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) log data, loads the results into a relational database for future lookup, and then automatically sends you a daily summary email.

Requests

It is an elegant and simple HTTP library for Python, built for human beings. It allows you to send HTTP/1.1 requests extremely easily. There’s no need to manually add query strings to your URLs, or to form-encode your POST data.

NPOI

It is a .NET library that can read/write Office formats without Microsoft Office installed. No COM+, no interop.

HTTP/2

It's focus is on performance; specifically, end-user perceived latency, network and server resource usage.

Embulk

It is an open-source bulk data loader that helps data transfer between various databases, storages, file formats, and cloud services.

Google BigQuery Data Transfer Service

BigQuery Data Transfer Service lets you focus your efforts on analyzing your data. You can setup a data transfer with a few clicks. Your analytics team can lay the foundation for a data warehouse without writing a single line of code.

PieSync

A cloud-based solution engineered to fill the gaps between cloud applications. The software utilizes Intelligent 2-way Contact Sync technology to sync contacts in real-time between your favorite CRM and marketing apps.

Resilio

It offers the industry leading data synchronization tool. Trusted by millions of users and thousands of companies across the globe. Resilient, fast and scalable p2p file sync software for enterprises and individuals.

Aviatrix

A cloud network and security architecture that enables intelligent orchestration and control as a service, without having to build yourself.

Synth

It is the quickest way to create accurate synthetic clones of your entire data infrastructure. It creates end-to-end synthetic data environments that look and behave exactly like your production data. Down to your data's content and database version.

Related Comparisons

AWS Direct Connect vs AWS Snowball Edge: What are the differences?

Connectivity Method: AWS Direct Connect provides a dedicated network connection between an on-premises data center and the AWS cloud. It offers a high-speed, low-latency connection that bypasses the public internet. On the other hand, AWS Snowball Edge is a physical device that allows for offline data transfer. It provides a portable storage appliance that can be shipped to the data source location, where data can be loaded onto it and then transported to an AWS data center for ingestion.
Data Transfer Capability: AWS Direct Connect enables a consistent and reliable high-speed connection for large-scale data transfer. It supports both bulk transfer and streaming use cases, making it suitable for applications that require real-time data transfer or low latency. In contrast, AWS Snowball Edge physically transports data using the device itself. It is ideal for large data sets that would take a significant amount of time to transfer over the internet. Additionally, Snowball Edge supports local compute and storage capabilities, allowing for data processing at the edge before transferring it to the AWS cloud.
Transfer Speed: With AWS Direct Connect, data transfer speeds can reach up to 100 Gbps. It provides a high-bandwidth link that ensures fast and efficient data transfer between the on-premises environment and AWS. On the other hand, AWS Snowball Edge offers a maximum data transfer rate of up to 40 Gbps, depending on the specific model. While Snowball Edge may not provide the same level of speed as Direct Connect, it offers the advantage of offline data transfer, which can be faster in scenarios where internet connectivity is limited or unreliable.
Data Volume: AWS Direct Connect allows for the transfer of large volumes of data, without the limitations of internet bandwidth or usage charges. It can be used to transfer petabytes of data over the dedicated network connection. In contrast, AWS Snowball Edge has physical storage capacities varying from 42 TB up to 100 TB, depending on the model. This makes it suitable for scenarios where large data sets need to be transported securely and efficiently, but not for extremely large-scale data migrations that require petabytes of storage.
Data Processing and Edge Computing: AWS Direct Connect primarily focuses on providing a reliable and high-speed connection for data transfer, without built-in data processing or compute capabilities. It is designed to facilitate the transfer of data between on-premises environments and AWS. On the other hand, AWS Snowball Edge includes built-in compute and storage capabilities. It allows for running AWS Lambda functions at the edge and performing local data processing tasks before sending data to the cloud. This makes Snowball Edge suitable for scenarios where data needs to be processed or transformed before being transferred to AWS.
Cost Structure and Pricing: AWS Direct Connect involves a cost structure based on the amount of data transferred and the duration of the connection. It offers pricing options including "pay-as-you-go" and "reserved capacity." Meanwhile, AWS Snowball Edge has a different pricing model that includes charges for both data transfer and device usage. The cost of a Snowball Edge device and the return shipping fees also need to be considered. It is important to assess the cost implications of each service based on the specific data transfer requirements and volume.

AWS Direct Connect vs AWS Snowball Edge

Overview