Data egress waiver available for eligible researchers and institutions

In 2016, Amazon Web Services (AWS) committed to helping make it simpler and faster for researchers to get started in the cloud. To meet that commitment, AWS created the Global Data Egress Waiver (GDEW) program. The cloud is helping speed scientific discovery, fostering collaboration across institutions, and allowing users more capabilities at a cheaper price. GDEW can be a valuable tool that gives eligible researchers and institutions a more predictable budget, which in turns allows them to have more direct access to the cloud than they might otherwise.

GDEW helps eligible researchers and academic institutions use AWS cloud storage, computing, and database services by waiving data egress fees. These are fees associated with data transfer out from AWS to the internet. The maximum discount is 15 percent of total monthly spending on AWS services; this is several times the usage we typically see among our research customers. There is no cost to upload data into AWS or move data between Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) and Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2).

Since the program’s launch in 2016, AWS has listened to customer feedback and taken steps to improve the program, by offering a wider range of users a data egress discount. AWS customers may be eligible for waiver of egress charges under this program if they:

• Work in higher education or research institutions
• Are connected to AWS via a National Research and Education (NREN) or AWS Direct Connect
• Are a US K12 school or school district (if so, the requirement that an account is connected to an NREN or Direct Connect is waived)
• Work in an approved AWS Region

Even though the program is only available to direct AWS customers, customers purchasing AWS through a Solution Provider might still be able to receive an egress discount. AWS has worked with a number of our public sector authorized Solution Providers to develop a similar structured egress discount program.

If you are a researcher, academic institution, or a US K12 school district and currently purchasing through an AWS Solution Provider, please speak to them about whether an egress discount is available. To request the AWS Data Egress Waiver, contact your AWS account manager or reach out to [email protected] and mention a Data Egress Waiver request. Districts and schools can get started with a Free Tier Account. Learn more about cloud computing for education with AWS.

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