AWS Snowcone Device Specifications - AWS Snowcone User Guide

AWS Snowcone Device Specifications

This section provides information about AWS Snowcone device specifications and requirements for hardware, network, Wi-Fi, and power supply.

Features and Specifications Summary

The following table summarizes the features and specifications for the Snowcone device.

Item Specification
Usage scenario

Industrial Internet of Things (IoT), transportation, healthcare IoT, content distribution, tactical edge computing, logistics, autonomous vehicle, data migration

Device size

9 inches long, 6 inches wide, and 3 inches tall

(227 mm x 148.6 mm x 82.65 mm)

Device weight 4.5 lbs. (2.04 kg) for Snowcone and 4.6 lbs (2.09 kg) Snowcone SSD
Storage capacity 8 TB usable for Snowcone and 14 TB useable for Snowcone SSD
Onboard computing options

Amazon EC2 Amazon Machine Images (AMIs)

Encryption

Yes, 256-bit

Transfers through Network File System (NFS) Yes
Transfers through Amazon S3 API No
Portability Battery-based operation
Wireless Wi-Fi
Note

Wi-Fi is available only in AWS Regions in North America.

Number of usable vCPUs 2 vCPUs
Available memory 4 GB
Network interfaces 2x 1/10 gigabit (Gb) - RJ45
AWS DataSync agent pre-installed Yes
Typical job lifetime

Offline or online data transfer: Days to weeks

Edge compute: Weeks to months

Max job length

Edge compute or on-going data transfer: Up to 360 days

Hardware and Network

A Snowcone device provides 8 TB or 14 TB of available storage. It runs specific Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances with two available CPUs and 4 GB of available memory to support your applications and AWS IoT Greengrass functions. In this section, you can find information about the physical device, such as the interfaces, power button, and power requirements as they appear in different views of the device.

Top View

The Snowcone device's top surface includes an integrated E-Ink touch display that is used as an operator interface to set up both wired and wireless networking. It also serves as a display for an electronic shipping label. The electronic shipping label is preprogrammed with both outbound and inbound shipping labels that automatically change after the device is first powered on.

The Snowcone device's touch display and size compared to a Kindle device.

Rear Panel

You make all cable connections on the rear panel. This section describes each connector.

The Snowcone device's rear panel showing the RJ45, USB-C, and USB-C PD connection ports.
Power

Power is supplied to the device through the rightmost USB-C connection using a suitable power adapter that can supply at least 45 W.

Note

AWS Snowcone does not include a power supply because it ships with the smallest possible form factor. For details, see AWS Snowcone Power Supply and Accessories.

USB

The first USB-C connection is not active.

Ethernet connectors 1 and 2

For wired networking, the Snowcone device provides two ports that auto-negotiate for 1 gigabit (Gb) or 10 Gb Ethernet networks.

RJ45 10/1G Base-T Ethernet ports – These ports auto-negotiate between 10 Gb and 1 Gb based on the far end connection capability. They don't negotiate speeds lower than 1 Gb (for example, 100 Mb or 10 Mb). The link LED is located to the right of each connector, and the activity LED is on the left.

The lights on the Snowcone device that indicate link/activity and link up.

Front Panel

The front panel contains the power button and status LED displays.

The front panel on the Snowcone device showing the power button and status LEDs for error and HDD.
Power switch

To turn on the device, momentarily press the power button. The button illuminates, the E-Ink display changes to a progress bar, and Please wait is displayed.

To turn off the device, hold the power switch for two seconds, or until the E-Ink display shows Please wait.

Note

Holding the power button for more than five seconds forces the device to power off. Doing this is not recommended because it might cause data in buffers to be lost. After AC power loss, the device automatically restores power to the last operating state.

Status LEDs

Two status LEDs are located next to the power button. The left LED flashes with disk activity and the right LED illuminates if there is a fault condition.

AWS Snowcone Wi-Fi Specifications

AWS Snowcone supports gigabit Wi-Fi networks with the IEEE 802.11ac standard, and also 802.11abgn networks. To maximize wireless throughput for Snowcone, use 2x2 802.11ac 160 MHz channels, which can be up to 10x faster than baseline 1x1 802.11bgn networks. The Snowcone Wi-Fi specifications are IEEE 802.11abgn+ac, 2x2, MIMO, dual band 2 GHz and 5 G (160MHz). The operating frequencies are 2 GHz and 5 GHz.

You can connect Snowcone to your on-premises network using a physical Ethernet cable, or you can connect it wirelessly using Wi-Fi. With the Wi-Fi connection, you can manage the Snowcone device using AWS OpsHub and transfer data between Snowcone and on-premises storage devices.

Note

Wi-Fi is available only in AWS Regions in North America.

Ruggedization Specifications

AWS Snowcone devices are designed to meet stringent standards for ruggedization, including ISTA-3A, ASTM D4169, and MIL-STD-810G for free-fall shock, operational vibration, and more. They are designed to tolerate falls up to 3.8 feet (1.15 meters). They also meet the IP65 International Protection Marking IEC standard, meaning they are both dust-tight (allowing no dust inside the enclosure when sealed) and water resistant (including protection from water jets on all sides).

The devices have a wide operating temperature range from freezing (0 degrees C or 32 degrees F) to desert-like conditions (Snowcone: 38 degrees C or 100 degrees F; Snowcone SSD: 45 degrees C or 113 degrees F). When in storage or being shipped, Snowcone devices withstand even harsher temperatures (-32 degrees C or -25.6 degrees F to 63 degrees C or 145.4 degrees F).

AWS Snowcone Power Supply and Accessories

AWS Snowcone devices do not include a power supply or an Ethernet cable (RJ45) because they ship with the smallest possible form factor. You have the option to run your Snowcone device through a plug-in power source or a battery. Here are the details to guide you when ordering a power supply and Ethernet cable:

USB-C power adapter – Use a USB-C power adapter with the Snowcone device for plugged-in power or for stationary (non-mobile) operating environments. To power your Snowcone device, you can purchase one of the following AWS-tested USB-C power adapters:

Or, you can use any USB-C power adapter that is rated for 45 W+ and your environment temperature.

USB-C battery – Use a USB-C battery to power the Snowcone device in mobile or portable operating environments. To power your Snowcone device, you can use a Dell Notebook Power Bank Plus – USB C, 65Wh - PW7018LC or any USB-C battery that is rated for a minimum of 45 W.

Ethernet cable (RJ45) – To connect the Snowcone device to your local network, use an Ethernet cable (RJ45). If you don't have one, you should purchase one.

Disk and CPU Performance

AWS Snowcone is a purpose built edge compute/data transfer device. The disk and CPU performance will vary depending on a variety of factors. Some sample performance numbers for transfer are in Snowcone Performance