AWS Snowcone AWS Snowball Edge & AWS DataSync
Legacy names AWS Snowcone, AWS Snowmobile
Ruggedized physical storage and edge-compute appliances (AWS Snowball Edge) and high-speed online data transfer service (AWS DataSync) for migrating data to and from AWS.
Naming timeline
- AWS Snowmobile
Launched on November 30, 2016 as a 45-foot ruggedized shipping container capable of transferring up to 100 PB of exabyte-scale data.
- AWS Snowcone (HDD & SSD)
Launched on June 17, 2020 (with Snowcone SSD added September 30, 2021) as an ultra-portable 4.5 lb edge computing and data transfer device.
- AWS Snowball Edge & AWS DataSyncCurrent name
Following the 2024 retirement of AWS Snowmobile and the November 12, 2024 discontinuation of AWS Snowcone, workloads transitioned to latest-generation AWS Snowball Edge devices and online transfers via AWS DataSync.
What replaced AWS Snowcone?
AWS Snowcone has been superseded by AWS Snowball Edge & AWS DataSync, with the latest change on 12 November 2024 (AWS Snowcone & Snowmobile Discontinuation). Earlier names covered by this entry also include AWS Snowmobile. Ruggedized physical storage and edge-compute appliances (AWS Snowball Edge) and high-speed online data transfer service (AWS DataSync) for migrating data to and from AWS. The underlying legacy API or CLI surface is deprecated, so a technical migration is required.
Also known as
- AWS Snowcone SSD
- AWS Snow Family
Technical identifiers
Legacy identifiers deprecated. The underlying API or CLI surface for the legacy name is officially deprecated, so this change requires a technical migration rather than a label update.
| AWS Service APIs / SDKs | snowball datasync |
|---|---|
| AWS CLI Commands | aws snowball aws datasync |
| IAM Actions & Policies | snowball:* datasync:* |
| Terraform Resources (aws_*) | aws_datasync_task aws_datasync_location_s3 aws_datasync_location_nfs aws_datasync_location_smb aws_datasync_agent |
Snowcone device ordering via the snowball API (--device-type SNC1_HDD / SNC1_SSD) was discontinued on November 12, 2024 (end of support November 12, 2025), and commercial Region support for Snowball devices ends December 31, 2026 in favor of datasync (aws datasync, aws_datasync_*).
Notes & disambiguation
- AWS discontinued the 100 PB semi-trailer truck service AWS Snowmobile (launched November 30, 2016) in early 2024 and officially discontinued the portable ruggedized device service AWS Snowcone (launched June 17, 2020) effective November 12, 2024 (with support for existing Snowcone jobs ending November 12, 2025).
- Per the November 12, 2024 AWS Storage Blog announcement, AWS consolidated physical migration and edge compute around 210 TB NVMe Storage Optimized and 104-vCPU Compute Optimized AWS Snowball Edge devices alongside online high-speed transfers via AWS DataSync and AWS Direct Connect.
- Subsequently, effective November 7, 2025, AWS Snowball Edge closed to new customers, and on December 31, 2026 AWS will discontinue Snowball devices in commercial Regions—directing customers to AWS DataSync for online transfers, AWS Data Transfer Terminal for physical transfers, and AWS Outposts for edge computing.
- AWS discontinued the 100 PB semi-trailer truck service AWS Snowmobile (launched November 30, 2016) on March 14, 2024 and officially discontinued the portable ruggedized device service AWS Snowcone (launched June 17, 2020) effective November 12, 2024 (with support for existing Snowcone jobs and V3S/V3G Snowball Edge devices ending November 12, 2025).
Sources & official documentation
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