Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company announced the launch of a new AWS Local Zones location in Muscat, Oman. AWS Local Zones are a type of infrastructure deployment in which AWS compute, storage, database, and other services are placed near large population, industry, and information technology (IT) centers, allowing customers to deploy applications that require single-digit millisecond latency to end users or on-premises data centers. Customers can run low-latency workloads on AWS Local Zones while seamlessly connecting to the rest of their workloads running in AWS Regions. AWS now has 25 AWS Local Zones around the world, with plans to launch an additional 27 AWS Local Zones globally.
To get started with AWS Local Zones, visit aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/localzones/locations.
“AWS Local Zones contribute to the Sultanate’s efforts to accelerate digital transformation and burgeon the digital economy while strengthening Oman as a major global hub for cloud services hosting,” said Dr. Ali Amur Al Shidhani, undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology. “AWS Local Zones help Oman businesses store their data locally and benefit from select AWS cloud services like analytics, artificial intelligence, and computing. Oman aspires through these investments to progress the National Digital Economy Program and Oman’s Vision 2040 to accelerate digitization in strategic and economic sectors.”
The location of cloud infrastructure is important for applications that require single-digit millisecond latency or must remain within a geographic boundary for regulatory reasons. The majority of customer workloads are hosted in an AWS Region, which is a geographical location where AWS clusters data centers to serve customers. Customers require AWS infrastructure closer to their data source or end users when a Region is not close enough to meet low latency or data residency requirements. Organizations have traditionally maintained these location-sensitive workloads on premises or in managed data centers that require customers to procure, operate, and maintain their own IT infrastructure, and use different sets of APIs and tools for their on-premises and AWS environments.
The launch of a new AWS Local Zones location in Muscat gives customers the ability to easily deploy applications located close to end users in the metro area. Customers can achieve the low latency required for use cases such as online gaming, live streaming, and augmented and virtual reality by locating AWS Local Zones near large population centers in metro areas. They can also provide customers in regulated industries such as health care, finance, and government with the option to keep data within a geographical boundary.
AWS manages and supports AWS Local Zones, so customers save money and time by not having to procure, operate, and maintain infrastructure in multiple cities to support low latency applications. AWS Local Zones can also assist organizations in migrating additional workloads to AWS, thereby supporting a hybrid cloud migration strategy and streamlining IT operations. Customers can access AWS Local Zones via an internet connection, as well as through private network connections to both AWS Local Zones and any AWS Region.
“With today’s launch of an AWS Local Zones location in Muscat, we are proud to bring the cloud closer to AWS customers, so they can deploy latency-sensitive workloads and store data locally,” said Wojciech Bajda, AWS director of Public Sector, Middle East and Africa. “We’ve designed AWS Local Zones to support a broad range of use cases—from trading applications that need to respond quickly to market fluctuations to interactive live event and gaming experiences. Customers in a variety of industries can now deliver innovative, new services and experiences to their end users, all with familiar AWS infrastructure, services, APIs, and tools.”
The new AWS Local Zones location in Muscat is the newest addition to AWS infrastructure in Oman, which includes AWS Outposts and AWS edge locations that launched earlier this year, giving customers in the country access to faster content delivery and cybersecurity protection services.
