Getting Started with AWS Snowball

Getting started with AWS Snowball is simple. Just create a new job and choose between Snowball Edge Storage Optimized and Snowball Edge Compute Optimized devices in the AWS Management Console.

Once you place a job order for a Snowball device, we will provision, prepare, and ship the device. This provisioning process may take up to 4 weeks from the time of order placement. This timeline should be factored into your project plan to ensure a seamless transition.

We will ship one or more Snowball Edge devices, pre-configured with Amazon S3 buckets, AWS Lambda functions, or Amazon EC2 AMIs if selected, to the address you provide when you create the job.

Once the device(s) arrives, download AWS OpsHub from the AWS Snowball Resources page and install it on a Windows or Mac computer. OpsHub will guide you through the steps to setup your devices, including connecting the devices to your local network, setting the IP address either manually or with DHCP, and unlocking your device. You can then use OpsHub to use, operate, and manage your devices, such as transferring data or launching EC2 instances. If you intend to transfer data to AWS, then once you finish transferring your data to the device and the device is ready to be returned, the E Ink shipping label will automatically update to the correct AWS facility, and you can track the job status via Amazon SNS, text messages, or directly in the Console.