Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced the launch of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, a dedicated cloud service designed for the European public sector and highly regulated industries. This service will cater to the rigorous regulatory data residency and operational requirements within Europe.
Situated and operated within Europe, the AWS European Sovereign Cloud will maintain a physical and logical separation from the existing AWS Regions while upholding the same standards of security, availability, and performance. This offering provides customers with an additional option to address their data residency, operational independence, and resilience demands.
“The AWS European Sovereign Cloud reinforces our commitment to offering AWS customers the most advanced set of sovereignty controls, privacy safeguards, and security features available in the cloud. With this new offering, customers and Partners across Europe will have more choice to achieve the operational independence they require, without compromising on the broadest and deepest cloud services that millions of customers already know and use today,” said Max Peterson, Vice President of Sovereign Cloud at AWS.
Data protection
Similar to the current AWS Regions, customers using the AWS European Sovereign Cloud will retain full control and assurance that AWS will not access or utilize their data without their explicit consent. Additionally, they will benefit from the most robust sovereignty controls among the leading cloud providers. The operations and support for the AWS European Sovereign Cloud will be exclusively managed by AWS employees residing within the European Union, ensuring local oversight.
For customers with heightened data residency requirements, the AWS European Sovereign Cloud will enable them to maintain all metadata they generate (such as roles, permissions, resource labels, and configurations utilized to operate AWS) within the European Union. Additionally, this offering will feature its own billing and usage metering systems.
Access to AWS Outposts and AWS Dedicated Local Zones
Customers with strict isolation and in-country data residency requirements will be able to utilize existing solutions such as AWS Outposts or AWS Dedicated Local Zones to establish AWS European Sovereign Cloud infrastructure in their chosen locations.
AWS Outposts is a fully managed solution that extends AWS infrastructure and services to virtually any on-premises or edge location, ensuring a consistent hybrid experience.
On the other hand, AWS Dedicated Local Zones represent a form of infrastructure dedicated exclusively to a single customer or community and situated in a location specified by the customer. These zones are designed to minimize the operational complexities associated with managing on-premises infrastructure at scale and can be customized to meet specific regulatory requirements.
Customers of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud will enjoy the same high-performance features they typically find in existing AWS Regions, including low latency and strong availability. They will also have access to the most extensive and widely adopted cloud platform globally, fostering innovation.
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