AWS Snowball User manual

AWS Snowball
User Guide
AWS Snowball: User Guide
Copyright © 2018 Amazon Web Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

AWS Snowball User Guide
Amazon's trademarks and trade dress may not be used in connection with any product or service that is not Amazon's, in any manner
that is likely to cause confusion among customers, or in any manner that disparages or discredits Amazon. All other trademarks not
owned by Amazon are the property of their respective owners, who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by
Amazon.

AWS Snowball User Guide
Table of Contents
....................................................................................................................................................... vi
What Is a Snowball? ........................................................................................................................... 1
Snowball Features ...................................................................................................................... 1
Prerequisites for Using AWS Snowball .......................................................................................... 2
Tools and Interfaces ................................................................................................................... 2
Related Services ......................................................................................................................... 2
Are You a First-Time User of AWS Snowball? ................................................................................. 2
Pricing ...................................................................................................................................... 3
Device Differences ...................................................................................................................... 3
Use Case Differences .......................................................................................................... 3
Hardware Differences .......................................................................................................... 3
Tool Differences ................................................................................................................. 5
Other Differences ............................................................................................................... 6
How It Works ............................................................................................................................ 6
How It Works: Concepts ...................................................................................................... 7
How It Works: Implementation ............................................................................................ 9
Jobs ........................................................................................................................................ 11
Job Types ........................................................................................................................ 11
Job Details ...................................................................................................................... 12
Job Statuses .................................................................................................................... 13
Setting Up ............................................................................................................................... 14
Sign Up for AWS .............................................................................................................. 14
Create an IAM User .......................................................................................................... 14
Next Step ........................................................................................................................ 15
Getting Started ................................................................................................................................ 16
Sign Up for AWS ...................................................................................................................... 16
Create an Administrator IAM User .............................................................................................. 16
Importing Data into Amazon S3 ................................................................................................. 16
Create an Import Job ........................................................................................................ 17
Receive the Snowball ........................................................................................................ 18
Connect the Snowball to Your Local Network ...................................................................... 20
Transfer Data ................................................................................................................... 21
Return the Appliance ........................................................................................................ 24
Monitor the Import Status ................................................................................................. 24
Exporting Data from Amazon S3 ................................................................................................ 24
Create an Export Job ........................................................................................................ 25
Receive the Snowball ........................................................................................................ 26
Connect the Snowball to Your Local Network ...................................................................... 28
Transfer Data ................................................................................................................... 29
Return the Appliance ........................................................................................................ 32
Repeat the Process ........................................................................................................... 32
Where Do I Go from Here? ........................................................................................................ 32
Best Practices .................................................................................................................................. 33
Security Best Practices .............................................................................................................. 33
Network Best Practices ............................................................................................................. 33
Resource Best Practices ............................................................................................................. 33
Performance ............................................................................................................................ 34
Speeding Up Data Transfer ................................................................................................ 34
How to Transfer Petabytes of Data Efficiently .............................................................................. 36
Planning Your Large Transfer ............................................................................................. 36
Calibrating a Large Transfer ............................................................................................... 38
Transferring Data in Parallel .............................................................................................. 39
Using the Snowball Console .............................................................................................................. 40
Cloning an Import Job .............................................................................................................. 40
iii

AWS Snowball User Guide
Using Export Ranges ................................................................................................................. 40
Export Range Examples ..................................................................................................... 41
Getting Your Job Completion Report and Logs ............................................................................. 42
Canceling Jobs ......................................................................................................................... 43
Using a Snowball ............................................................................................................................. 45
Changing Your IP Address ......................................................................................................... 49
Transferring Data ..................................................................................................................... 51
Transferring Data with the Snowball Client .................................................................................. 52
Using the Snowball Client ................................................................................................. 52
Transferring Data with the Amazon S3 Adapter for Snowball ......................................................... 65
Downloading and Installing the Amazon S3 Adapter for Snowball .......................................... 65
Using the Amazon S3 Adapter for Snowball ........................................................................ 66
Shipping Considerations .................................................................................................................... 73
Preparing a Snowball for Shipping ............................................................................................. 73
Region-Based Shipping Restrictions ............................................................................................ 74
Shipping a Snowball ................................................................................................................. 74
Shipping Carriers .............................................................................................................. 74
Security ........................................................................................................................................... 77
Encryption in AWS Snowball ...................................................................................................... 77
Server-Side Encryption ...................................................................................................... 77
Authorization and Access Control ............................................................................................... 79
Authentication ................................................................................................................. 79
Access Control ................................................................................................................. 82
AWS Key Management Service in Snowball .................................................................................. 84
Using the AWS-Managed Customer Master Key for Snowball .................................................. 85
Creating a Custom KMS Envelope Encryption Key ................................................................. 85
Authorization with the Amazon S3 API Adapter for Snowball ......................................................... 85
Other Security Considerations for Snowball ................................................................................. 86
Data Validation ................................................................................................................................ 87
Checksum Validation of Transferred Data .................................................................................... 87
Common Validation Errors ......................................................................................................... 87
Manual Data Validation for Snowball During Transfer ................................................................... 88
Manual Data Validation for Snowball After Import into Amazon S3 ................................................. 89
Notifications .................................................................................................................................... 90
Specifications ................................................................................................................................... 91
Supported Network Hardware .................................................................................................... 91
Workstation Specifications ......................................................................................................... 93
Limits ............................................................................................................................................. 95
Regional Limitations for AWS Snowball ....................................................................................... 95
Limitations on Jobs in AWS Snowball ......................................................................................... 95
Limitations on Transferring On-Premises Data with a Snowball ...................................................... 96
Limitations on Shipping a Snowball ............................................................................................ 96
Limitations on Processing Your Returned Snowball for Import ........................................................ 96
Troubleshooting ............................................................................................................................... 98
Troubleshooting Connection Problems ........................................................................................ 98
Troubleshooting Data Transfer Problems ..................................................................................... 98
Troubleshooting Client Problems ................................................................................................ 99
Troubleshooting Snowball Client Validation Problems ........................................................... 99
HDFS Troubleshooting ..................................................................................................... 100
Troubleshooting Adapter Problems ........................................................................................... 100
Troubleshooting Import Job Problems ....................................................................................... 101
Troubleshooting Export Job Problems ....................................................................................... 101
Job Management API ...................................................................................................................... 102
API Endpoint .......................................................................................................................... 102
API Version ............................................................................................................................ 103
API Permission Policy Reference ............................................................................................... 103
Related Topics ........................................................................................................................ 105
iv

AWS Snowball User Guide
Document History .......................................................................................................................... 106
AWS Glossary ................................................................................................................................. 108
v

AWS Snowball User Guide
This guide is for the Snowball (50 TB or 80 TB of storage space). If you are looking for documentation for
the Snowball Edge, see the AWS Snowball Edge Developer Guide.
vi

AWS Snowball User Guide
Snowball Features
What Is an AWS Snowball Appliance?
AWS Snowball is a service that accelerates transferring large amounts of data into and out of AWS using
physical storage appliances, bypassing the Internet. Each AWS Snowball appliance type can transport
data at faster-than internet speeds. This transport is done by shipping the data in the appliances through
a regional carrier. The appliances are rugged shipping containers, complete with E Ink shipping labels.
With a Snowball, you can transfer hundreds of terabytes or petabytes of data between your on-premises
data centers and Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). AWS Snowball uses Snowball appliances
and provides powerful interfaces that you can use to create jobs, transfer data, and track the status of
your jobs through to completion. By shipping your data in Snowballs, you can transfer large amounts
of data at a significantly faster rate than if you were transferring that data over the Internet, saving you
time and money.
Note
There are many options for transferring your data into AWS. Snowball is intended for
transferring large amounts of data. If you want to transfer less than 10 terabytes of data
between your on-premises data centers and Amazon S3, Snowball might not be your most
economical choice.
Snowball uses Snowball appliances shipped through your region's carrier. Each Snowball is protected
by AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS) and made physically rugged to secure and protect your
data while the Snowball is in transit. In the US regions, Snowballs come in two sizes: 50 TB and 80 TB. All
other regions have 80 TB Snowballs only.
Snowball Features
Snowball with the Snowball appliance has the following features:
• You can import and export data between your on-premises data storage locations and Amazon S3.
• Snowball has an 80 TB model available in all regions, and a 50 TB model only available in the US
regions.
• Encryption is enforced, protecting your data at rest and in physical transit.
• You don't have to buy or maintain your own hardware devices.
• You can manage your jobs through the AWS Snowball Management Console, or programmatically with
the job management API.
• You can perform local data transfers between your on-premises data center and a Snowball.
These transfers can be done through the Snowball client, a standalone downloadable client, or
programmatically using Amazon S3 REST API calls with the downloadable Amazon S3 Adapter for
Snowball. For more information, see Transferring Data with a Snowball (p. 51).
• The Snowball is its own shipping container, and its E Ink display changes to show your shipping label
when the Snowball is ready to ship. For more information, see Shipping Considerations for AWS
Snowball (p. 73).
• For a list of regions where the Snowball appliance is available, see AWS Snowball in the AWS General
Reference.
Note
Snowball doesn't support international shipping or shipping between regions outside of the US.
For more information on shipping restrictions, see Region-Based Shipping Restrictions (p. 74).
1

AWS Snowball User Guide
Prerequisites for Using AWS Snowball
Prerequisites for Using AWS Snowball
Before transferring data into Amazon S3 using Snowball, you should do the following:
• Create an AWS account and an administrator user in AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM). For
more information, see Creating an IAM User for Snowball (p. 79).
• If you are importing data, do the following:
• Confirm that the files and folders to transfer are named according to the Object Key Naming
Guidelines for Amazon S3. Any files or folders with names that don't meet these guidelines won't be
imported into Amazon S3.
• Plan what data you want to import into Amazon S3. For more information, see How to Transfer
Petabytes of Data Efficiently (p. 36).
• If you are exporting data, do the following:
• Understand what data will be exported when you create your job. For more information, see Using
Export Ranges (p. 40).
• For any files with a colon (:) in the file name, change the file names in Amazon S3 before you create
the export job to get these files. Files with a colon in the file name fail export to Microsoft Windows
Server.
Tools and Interfaces
Snowball uses the AWS Snowball Management Console and the job management API for creating and
managing jobs. To perform data transfers on the Snowball appliance locally, use the Snowball client or
the Amazon S3 Adapter for Snowball. To learn more about using these in detail, see the following topics:
•Using the AWS Snowball Management Console (p. 40)
•Using an AWS Snowball Appliance (p. 45)
•Transferring Data with a Snowball (p. 51)
We also recommend that you check out the job management API for AWS Snowball. For more
information, see AWS Snowball API Reference.
Services Related to AWS Snowball
This guide assumes that you are an Amazon S3 user.
Are You a First-Time User of AWS Snowball?
If you are a first-time user of the Snowball service with the Snowball appliance, we recommend that you
read the following sections in order:
1. To learn more about the different types of jobs, see Jobs for Standard Snowball Appliances (p. 11).
2. For an end-to-end overview of how Snowball works with the Snowball appliance, see How AWS
Snowball Works with the Standard Snowball Appliance (p. 6).
3. When you're ready to get started, see Getting Started with AWS Snowball (p. 16).
2

AWS Snowball User Guide
Pricing
Pricing
For information about the pricing and fees associated with the AWS Snowball, see AWS Snowball Pricing.
AWS Snowball Device Differences
The Snowball and the Snowball Edge are two different devices. This guide is for the Snowball. If you are
looking for documentation for the Snowball Edge, see the AWS Snowball Edge Developer Guide. Both
devices allow you to move huge amounts of data into and out of Amazon S3, they both have the same
job management API, and they both use the same console. However, the two devices differ in hardware
specifications, some features, what transfer tools are used, and price.
AWS Snowball Use Case Differences
Following is a table that shows the different use cases for the different AWS Snowball devices:
Use case Snowball Snowball Edge
Import data into Amazon S3 ✓ ✓
Copy data directly from HDFS ✓
Export from Amazon S3 ✓ ✓
Durable local storage  ✓
Use in a cluster of devices  ✓
Use with AWS Greengrass (IoT)  ✓
Transfer files through NFS with a
GUI
✓
AWS Snowball Hardware Differences
Following is a table that shows how the devices differ from each other, physically. For information
on specifications for the Snowball, see AWS Snowball Specifications (p. 91). For information on
specifications for the Snowball Edge, see AWS Snowball Edge Specifications.
3

AWS Snowball User Guide
Hardware Differences
Snowball Snowball Edge
Each device has different storage capacities, as follows:
Storage capacity (usable
capacity)
Snowball Snowball Edge
50 TB (42 TB) - US regions only ✓
80 TB (72 TB) ✓
100 TB (83 TB)  ✓
100 TB Clustered (45 TB per
node)
✓
Each device has the following physical interfaces for management purposes:
Physical interface Snowball Snowball Edge
E Ink display – used to track
shipping information and
configure your IP address.
✓ ✓
LCD display – used to manage
connections and provide some
administrative functions.
✓
4

AWS Snowball User Guide
Tool Differences
AWS Snowball Tool Differences
The following outlines the different tools used with the AWS Snowball devices, and how they are used:
Snowball Tools
Snowball client with Snowball
• Must be downloaded from the AWS Snowball Tools Download page and installed on a powerful
workstation that you own.
• Can transfer data to or from the Snowball. For more information, see Using the Snowball
Client (p. 52).
• Encrypts data on your powerful workstation before the data is transferred to the Snowball.
Amazon S3 Adapter for Snowball with Snowball
• Must be downloaded from the AWS Snowball Tools Download page and installed on a powerful
workstation that you own.
• Can transfer data to or from the Snowball. For more information, see Transferring Data with the
Amazon S3 Adapter for Snowball (p. 65).
• Encrypts data on your powerful workstation before the data is transferred to the Snowball.
Snowball Edge Tools
Snowball client with Snowball Edge
• Must be downloaded from the AWS Snowball Tools Download page and installed on a computer that
you own.
• Must be used to unlock the Snowball Edge or the cluster of Snowball Edge devices. For more
information, see Using the Snowball Client.
• Can't be used to transfer data.
Amazon S3 Adapter for Snowball with Snowball Edge
• Is already installed on the Snowball Edge by default. It does not need to be downloaded or installed.
• Can transfer data to or from the Snowball Edge. For more information, see Using the Amazon S3
Adapter.
• Encrypts data on the Snowball Edge while the data is transferred to the device.
File interface with Snowball Edge
• Is already installed on the Snowball Edge by default. It does not need to be downloaded or installed.
• Can transfer data by dragging and dropping files up to 150 GB in size from your computer to the
buckets on the Snowball Edge through an easy-to-configure NFS mount point. For more information,
see Using the File Interface for the AWS Snowball Edge.
• Encrypts data on the Snowball Edge while the data is transferred to the device.
AWS Greengrass console with Snowball Edge
• With a Snowball Edge, you can use the AWS Greengrass console to update your AWS Greengrass group
and the core running on the Snowball Edge.
5

AWS Snowball User Guide
Other Differences
Differences Between Items Provided for the Snowball and
Snowball Edge
The following outlines the differences between the network adapters, cables used, and cables provided
for the Snowball and Snowball Edge.
Network Interface Snowball Support Snowball Edge
Support
Cables Provided with
Device
RJ45 ✓✓Only provided with
Snowball
SFP+ ✓✓Only provided with
Snowball
SFP+ (with optic
connector)
✓✓No cables provided for
either device. No optic
connector provided for
Snowball Edge devices.
An optic connector is
provided with each
Snowball
QSFP  ✓No cables or optics
provided
For more information on the network interfaces, cables, and connectors that work with the different
device types, see the following topics:
•Supported Network Hardware (p. 91) for Snowballs in this guide.
•Supported Network Hardware in the AWS Snowball Edge Developer Guide.
AWS Snowball Other Differences
For other differences, including FAQs and pricing information, see:
•https://aws.amazon.com/snowball
•https://aws.amazon.com/snowball-edge
How AWS Snowball Works with the Standard
Snowball Appliance
Following, you can find information on how AWS Snowball works, including concepts and its end-to-end
implementation.
Topics
•How It Works: Concepts (p. 7)
•How It Works: Implementation (p. 9)
6

AWS Snowball User Guide
How It Works: Concepts
How It Works: Concepts
How Import Works
Each import job uses a single Snowball appliance. After you create a job in the AWS Snowball
Management Console or the job management API, we ship you a Snowball. When it arrives in a few days,
you’ll connect the Snowball to your network and transfer the data that you want imported into Amazon
S3 onto that Snowball using the Snowball client or the Amazon S3 Adapter for Snowball.
When you’re done transferring data, ship the Snowball back to AWS, and we’ll import your data into
Amazon S3.
7

AWS Snowball User Guide
How It Works: Concepts
How Export Works
Each export job can use any number of Snowball appliances. After you create a job in the AWS Snowball
Management Console or the job management API, a listing operation starts in Amazon S3. This listing
operation splits your job into parts. Each job part can be up to about 80 TB in size, and each job part has
exactly one Snowball associated with it. After your job parts are created, your first job part enters the
Preparing Snowball status.
Soon after that, we start exporting your data onto a Snowball. Typically, exporting data takes one
business day. However, this process can take longer. Once the export is done, AWS gets the Snowball
ready for pickup by your region's carrier. When the Snowball arrives at your data center or office in a few
days, you’ll connect the Snowball to your network and transfer the data that you want exported to your
servers by using the Snowball client or the Amazon S3 Adapter for Snowball.
When you’re done transferring data, ship the Snowball back to AWS. Once we receive a returned
Snowball for your export job part, we perform a complete erasure of the Snowball. This erasure follows
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-88 standards. This step marks the
completion of that particular job part. If there are more job parts, the next job part now is prepared for
shipping.
Note
The listing operation is a function of Amazon S3. You are billed for it as you are for any Amazon
S3 operation, even if you cancel your export job.
8

AWS Snowball User Guide
How It Works: Implementation
How It Works: Implementation
The following are overviews of how the Snowball is implemented for importing and exporting data. Both
overviews assume that you'll use the AWS Snowball Management Console to create your job and the
Snowball client to locally transfer your data. If you'd rather work programmatically, to create jobs you
can use the job management API for Snowball. For more information, see AWS Snowball API Reference.
To transfer your data programmatically, you can use the Amazon S3 Adapter for Snowball. For more
information, see Transferring Data with the Amazon S3 API Adapter for Snowball (p. 65).
End-to-End Import Implementation
1. Create an import job – Sign in to the AWS Snowball Management Console and create a job. The
status of your job is now Job created, and we have queued your job request for processing. If there’s a
problem with your request, you can cancel your job at this point.
2. A Snowball is prepared for your job – We prepare a Snowball for your job, and the status of your job
is now Preparing Snowball. For security purposes, data transfers must be completed within 90 days
of the Snowball being prepared.
3. A Snowball is shipped to you by your region's carrier – The carrier takes over from here, and the
status of your job is now In transit to you. You can find your tracking number and a link to the
tracking website on the AWS Snowball Management Console. For information on who your region's
carrier is, see Shipping Carriers (p. 74).
4. Receive the Snowball – A few days later, your region's carrier delivers the Snowball to the address
that you provided when you created the job, and the status of your job changes to Delivered to you.
When the Snowball arrives, you’ll notice that it didn’t arrive in a box, because the Snowball is its own
shipping container.
5. Get your credentials and download the Snowball client – Get ready to start transferring data by
getting your credentials, your job manifest, and the manifest's unlock code, and then downloading the
Snowball client.
• The Snowball client is the tool that you’ll use to manage the flow of data from your on-premises
data source to the Snowball. You can download the Snowball client from the AWS Snowball Tools
Download page.
• The manifest is used to authenticate your access to the Snowball, and it is encrypted so that only
the unlock code can decrypt it. You can get the manifest from the AWS Snowball Management
Console when the Snowball is on-premises at your location.
• The unlock code is a 29-character code that also appears when you get your manifest. We
recommend that you write it down and keep it separate from the manifest to prevent unauthorized
access to the Snowball while it’s at your facility. The unlock code is visible when you get your
manifest.
6. Install and set up the Snowball client – Install the Snowball client on the computer workstation that
has your data source mounted on it.
7. Position the hardware – Move the Snowball into your data center and open it following the
instructions on the case. Connect the Snowball to power and your local network.
8. Power on the Snowball – Next, power on the Snowball by pressing the power button above the E Ink
display. Wait a few minutes, and the Ready screen appears.
9. Start the Snowball client – When you start the Snowball client on your workstation, type the IP
address of the Snowball, the path to your manifest, and the unlock code. The Snowball client decrypts
the manifest and uses it to authenticate your access to the Snowball.
10.Transfer data – Use the Snowball client to transfer the data that you want to import into Amazon S3
from your data source into the Snowball.
11.Prepare the Snowball for its return trip – After your data transfer is complete, power off the
Snowball and unplug its cables. Secure the Snowball’s cables into the cable caddie on the inside of the
Snowball’s back panel and seal the Snowball. Now the Snowball is ready to be returned.
9

AWS Snowball User Guide
How It Works: Implementation
12.Your region's carrier returns the Snowball to AWS – While the carrier has the Snowball for shipping,
the status for the job becomes In transit to AWS.
13.AWS gets the Snowball – The Snowball arrives at AWS, and the status for your job becomes At AWS.
On average, it takes about a day for AWS to begin importing your data into Amazon S3.
14.AWS imports your data into Amazon S3 – When import starts, your job’s status changes to
Importing. The import can take a few days. At this point, if there are any complications or issues, we
contact you through email.
Once the import is complete, your job status becomes Completed, and a PDF file of your job
completion report becomes available for download from the AWS Snowball Management Console.
15.Your imported data now resides in Amazon S3 – With the import complete, the data that you
transferred is now in Amazon S3.
Now that you know how an import job works, you're ready to create your first job. For more information,
see Importing Data into Amazon S3 with AWS Snowball (p. 16).
For more information about the job management API for Snowball, see AWS Snowball API Reference.
End-to-End Export Implementation
1. Create an export job – Sign in to the AWS Snowball Management Console and create a job. This
process begins a listing operation in Amazon S3 to determine the amount of data to be transferred,
and also any optional ranges for objects within your buckets that your job will transfer. Once the
listing is complete, the AWS Snowball Management Console creates all the job parts that you'll need
for your export job. At this point, you can cancel your job if you need to.
Note
The listing operation is a function of Amazon S3. You are billed for it as you are for any
Amazon S3 operation, even if you cancel your export job.
2. A Snowball is prepared for your job part – Soon after your job parts are created, your first job part
enters the Preparing Snowball status. For security purposes, data transfers must be completed
within 90 days of the Snowball being prepared. When the Snowball is prepared, the status changes
to Exporting. Typically, exporting takes one business day; however, this process can take longer. Once
the export is done, the job status becomes Preparing shipment, and AWS gets the Snowball ready for
pickup.
3. A Snowball is shipped to you by your region's carrier – The carrier takes over from here, and the
status of your job is now In transit to you. You can find your tracking number and a link to the
tracking website on the AWS Snowball Management Console. For information on who your region's
carrier is, see Shipping Carriers (p. 74).
4. Receive the Snowball – A few days later, the carrier delivers the Snowball to the address you provided
when you created the job, and the status of your first job part changes to Delivered to you. When the
Snowball arrives, you’ll notice that it didn’t arrive in a box, because the Snowball is its own shipping
container.
5. Get your credentials and download the Snowball client – Get ready to start transferring data by
getting your credentials, your job manifest, and the manifest's unlock code, and then downloading the
Snowball client.
• The Snowball client is the tool that you’ll use to manage the flow of data from the Snowball to your
on-premises data destination. You can download the Snowball client from the AWS Snowball Tools
Download page.
• The manifest is used to authenticate your access to the Snowball, and it is encrypted so that only
the unlock code can decrypt it. You can get the manifest from the AWS Snowball Management
Console when the Snowball is on-premises at your location.
• The unlock code is a 29-character code that also appears when you get your manifest. We
recommend that you write it down and keep it separate from the manifest to prevent unauthorized
10

AWS Snowball User Guide
Jobs
access to the Snowball while it’s at your facility. The unlock code is visible when you get your
manifest.
6. Install and set up the Snowball client – Install the Snowball client on the computer workstation that
has your data source mounted on it.
7. Position the hardware – Move the Snowball into your data center and open it following the
instructions on the case. Connect the Snowball to power and your local network.
8. Power on the Snowball – Next, power on the Snowball by pressing the power button above the E Ink
display. Wait a few minutes, and the Ready screen appears.
9. Start the Snowball client – When you start the Snowball client on your workstation, type the IP
address of the Snowball, the path to your manifest, and the unlock code. The Snowball client decrypts
the manifest and uses it to authenticate your access to the Snowball.
10.Transfer data – Use the Snowball client to transfer the data that you want to export from the
Snowball appliance into your on-premises data destination.
11.Prepare the Snowball for its return trip – After your data transfer is complete, power off the
Snowball and unplug its cables. Secure the Snowball’s cables into the cable caddie on the inside of the
Snowball’s back panel and seal the Snowball. The Snowball is now ready to be returned.
12.Your region's carrier returns the Snowball to AWS – When the carrier has the Snowball, the status
for the job becomes In transit to AWS. At this point, if your export job has more job parts, the next job
part enters the Preparing Snowball status.
13.We erase the Snowball – Once we receive a returned Snowball we perform a complete erasure of the
Snowball. This erasure follows the NIST 800-88 standards.
Now that you know how an export job works, you're ready to create your first job. For more information,
see Exporting Data from Amazon S3 with Snowball (p. 24).
Jobs for Standard Snowball Appliances
A job in AWS Snowball (Snowball) is a discrete unit of work, defined when you create it in the console
or the job management API. Jobs have types, details, and statuses. Each of those elements is covered in
greater detail in the sections that follow.
Topics
•Job Types (p. 11)
•Job Details (p. 12)
•Job Statuses (p. 13)
Job Types
There are two different job types: import jobs and export jobs. Both of the Snowball job types are
summarized following, including the source of the data, how much data can be moved, and the result
you can expect at successful job completion. Although these two types of jobs have fundamental
differences, they share some common details The source can be local to your data center or office, or it
can be an Amazon S3 bucket.
Import into Amazon S3
An import job is the transfer of 80 TB or less of your data (located in an on-premises data source), copied
onto a single Snowball, and then moved into Amazon S3. For import jobs, Snowballs and jobs have a
one-to-one relationship, meaning that each job has exactly one Snowball associated with it. If you need
additional Snowballs, you can create new import jobs or clone existing ones.
11

AWS Snowball User Guide
Job Details
Your data source for an import job should be on-premises. In other words, the storage devices that
hold the data to be transferred should be physically located at the address that you provided when you
created the job.
You can import any number of directories, files, and objects for each import job, provided the amount of
data you're importing fits within a single Snowball. In the US regions, Snowballs come in two sizes: 50 TB
and 80 TB. All other regions have 80 TB Snowballs only.
When you import files, each file becomes an object in Amazon S3 and each directory becomes a prefix.
If you import data into an existing bucket, any existing objects with the same names as newly imported
objects will be overwritten.
When the import has been processed and verified, AWS performs a complete erasure of the Snowball.
This erasure follows the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-88 standards.
After your import is complete, you can download a job report. This report alerts you to any objects that
failed the import process. You can find additional information in the success and failure logs.
Important
Don't delete your local copies of the transferred data until you can verify the results of the job
completion report and review your import logs.
Export from Amazon S3
An export job is the transfer of any amount of data (located in Amazon S3), copied onto any number of
Snowballs, and then moved one Snowball at a time into your on-premises data destination. When you
create an export job, it's split into job parts. Each job part is no more than 80 TB in size, and each job
part has exactly one Snowball associated with it.
Your data source for an export job is one or more Amazon S3 buckets. Once the data for a job part is
moved from Amazon S3 to a Snowball, you can download a job report. This report will alert you to any
objects that failed the transfer to the Snowball. You can find more information in your job's success and
failure logs.
You can export any number of objects for each export job, using as many Snowballs as it takes to
complete the transfer. Snowballs for an export job's job parts are delivered one after another, with
subsequent Snowballs shipping out to you once the previous job part has entered the In transit to AWS
status.
When you copy objects into your on-premises data destination from a Snowball, those objects are saved
as files. If you copy objects into a location that already holds files, any existing files with the same names
will be overwritten.
When AWS receives a returned Snowball, we perform a complete erasure of the Snowball. This erasure
follows the NIST 800-88 standards.
Important
Don't change, update, or delete the exported Amazon S3 objects until you can verify that all of
your contents for the entire job have been copied to your on-premises data destination.
When you create an export job, you can choose to export an entire Amazon S3 bucket or a specific range
of objects keys. For more information, see Using Export Ranges (p. 40).
Job Details
Each import or export job for Snowball is defined by the details that you specify when it's created. The
following list describes all the details of a job.
•Job name – A name for the job, containing alphanumeric characters, spaces, and any Unicode special
characters.
12

AWS Snowball User Guide
Job Statuses
•Job type – The type of job, either import or export.
•Job ID – A unique 39-character label that identifies your job. The job ID appears at the bottom of the
shipping label that appears on the E Ink display, and in the name of a job's manifest file.
•Created date – The date that you created this job.
•Shipping speed – Speed options are based on region. For more information, see Shipping
Speeds (p. 76).
•IAM role ARN – This Amazon Resource Name (ARN) is the AWS Identity and Access Management
(IAM) role that is created during job creation with write permissions for your Amazon S3 buckets. The
creation process is automatic, and the IAM role that you allow Snowball to assume is only used to copy
your data between your Amazon S3 buckets and the Snowball. For more information, see Creating an
IAM Role for Snowball (p. 81).
•AWS KMS key – In Snowball, AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS) encrypts the keys on each
Snowball. When you create your job, you also choose or create an ARN for an AWS KMS encryption key
that you own. For more information, see AWS Key Management Service in Snowball (p. 84).
•Snowball capacity – In the US regions, Snowballs come in two sizes: 50 TB and 80 TB. All other
regions have the 80 TB Snowballs only.
•Storage service – The AWS storage service associated with this job, in this case Amazon S3.
•Resources – The AWS storage service resources associated with your job. In this case, these are the
Amazon S3 buckets that your data is transferred to or from.
Job Statuses
Each job has a status, which changes to denote the current state of the job.
Job Status Description Job Type That Status
Applies To
Job created Your job has just been created. This status is the
only one during which you can cancel a job or its
job parts, if the job is an export job.
Both
Preparing Snowball AWS is preparing a Snowball for your job. Both
Exporting AWS is exporting your data from Amazon S3 onto
a Snowball.
Export
Preparing shipment AWS is preparing to ship a Snowball to you. Both
In transit to you The Snowball has been shipped to the address
you provided during job creation.
Both
Delivered to you The Snowball has arrived at the address you
provided during job creation.
Both
In transit to AWS You have shipped the Snowball back to AWS. Both
At AWS Your shipment has arrived at AWS. If you're
importing data, your import typically begins
within a day of its arrival.
Both
Importing AWS is importing your data into Amazon Simple
Storage Service (Amazon S3).
Import
Completed Your import job or export job part has completed
successfully.
Both
13

AWS Snowball User Guide
Setting Up
Job Status Description Job Type That Status
Applies To
Canceled Your job has been canceled. You can only cancel
Snowball import jobs during the Job created
status.
Both
Setting Up Your AWS Access
Before you use AWS Snowball (Snowball) for the first time, you need to complete the following tasks:
1. Sign Up for AWS (p. 14).
2. Create an IAM User (p. 14).
Sign Up for AWS
When you sign up for Amazon Web Services (AWS), your AWS account is automatically signed up for all
services in AWS, including AWS Import/Export. You are charged only for the services that you use. For
more information about pricing and fees for Snowball, see AWS Snowball Pricing. Snowball is not free to
use; for more information on what AWS services are free, see AWS Free Usage Tier.
If you have an AWS account already, skip to the next task. If you don't have an AWS account, use the
following procedure to create one.
To create an AWS account
1. Open https://aws.amazon.com/, and then choose Create an AWS Account.
Note
This might be unavailable in your browser if you previously signed into the AWS
Management Console. In that case, choose Sign in to a different account, and then choose
Create a new AWS account.
2. Follow the online instructions.
Part of the sign-up procedure involves receiving a phone call and entering a PIN using the phone
keypad.
Note your AWS account number, because you'll need it for the next task.
Create an IAM User
Services in AWS, such as AWS Import/Export, require that you provide credentials when you access
them, so that the service can determine whether you have permission to access its resources. AWS
recommends not using the root credentials of your AWS account to make requests. Instead, create an
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) user, and grant that user full access. We refer to these users
as administrator users.
You can use the administrator user credentials, instead of root credentials of your account, to interact
with AWS and perform tasks, such as to create an Amazon S3 bucket, create users, and grant them
permissions. For more information, see Root Account Credentials vs. IAM User Credentials in the AWS
General Reference and IAM Best Practices in IAM User Guide.
If you signed up for AWS but have not created an IAM user for yourself, you can create one using the IAM
console.
14