Season 4 Episode 16: Apex Domains, Backup Testing, and Cloud Sustainability

In Season 4, Episode 16 Karl & Jon are joined by AWS Hero, Sathyajith Bhat. They discuss Amazon CloudFront Anycast static IPs for Apex domains, AWS simplifying VPC peering billing, AWS Backup restore testing, sustainability challenges with AI and hyperscale data centers, CMA probe into cloud provider dominance and licensing costs and the guys went off on a tangent about the carbon footprint of generating AI action figure dolls.

 

08:53 - Amazon CloudFront now supports Anycast static IPs for Apex domains 

This new feature allows users to point their Apex (naked) domains directly to CloudFront without using CNAME flattening or alias records. It simplifies DNS configuration and reduces the number of IPs needed for allowlisting. The feature is particularly useful for organizations still using basic DNS providers and those requiring IP whitelisting for CDNs.

15:08 - AWS simplifies VPC peering billing 

AWS has made changes to simplify billing for VPC peering by separating inter-availability zone data transfer charges from VPC-to-VPC traffic. This change makes it easier for customers to understand their costs related to VPC peering and inter-AZ data transfer. While it doesn't affect the actual charges, it provides more clarity in billing statements.

21:22 - AWS Backup restore testing and its importance

AWS Backup now offers automated restore testing, allowing users to validate their backups regularly. This feature is crucial for ensuring data recoverability and meeting various compliance standards. The article emphasizes the importance of testing backups and provides insights into how the restore testing process works within AWS Backup.

31:04 - Sustainability challenges with AI and hyperscale data centers 

The article discusses the growing concern over the massive energy consumption of AI and hyperscale data centers. It highlights the conflict between tech companies' sustainability pledges and the increasing power demands of AI workloads. The discussion touches on various potential solutions, including nuclear power and carbon capture technologies, while acknowledging the complexity of the issue.

40:04 - CMA probe into cloud provider dominance and licensing costs

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating the dominance of major cloud providers. AWS and Google are claiming that Microsoft's licensing practices for running Windows servers on their clouds are unfair. The article discusses AWS's claim that 50% of Azure workloads would move to other clouds if licensing costs were more favorable, though this claim is met with skepticism by the podcast participants.