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Create an order for an Outposts rack - AWS Outposts
Step 1: Create a siteStep 2: Create an OutpostStep 3: Create a quoteStep 4: Place the orderStep 5: Modify instance capacityNext steps

Create an order for an Outposts rack

To begin using AWS Outposts, you must create a site, create an Outpost, get a quote, and place your order.

Prerequisites

  • Review the available configurations for your Outposts racks.

  • An Outpost site is the physical location for your Outpost equipment. Before ordering capacity, verify that your site meets the requirements. For more information, see Site requirements for Outposts racks.

  • You must have an AWS Enterprise Support plan or an AWS Unified Operations plan.

  • Determine which AWS account you will use to create the Outposts site, create the Outpost, and place the order. Monitor the email associated with this account for information from AWS.

Step 1: Create a site

Create a site to specify the operating address. The operating address is the physical location for your Outposts racks.

Prerequisites

  • Determine the operating address.

To create a site

  1. Sign in to AWS.

  2. Open the AWS Outposts console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/outposts/.

  3. To select the parent AWS Region, use the Region selector in the upper-right corner of the page.

  4. In the navigation pane, choose Sites.

  5. Choose Create site.

  6. For Supported hardware type, choose Racks and servers.

  7. Enter a name, description, and operating address for your site.

  8. For Site details, provide the requested information about the site.

    • Max weight – The maximum rack weight that this site can support, in lbs. Check your floor's load rating with your facilities team or structural engineer and multiply it by the rack footprint (approximately 6 square feet for a 42U rack).

    • Power draw – The power draw available at the hardware placement position for the rack, in kVA. Check the capacity of the circuit breakers or power distribution units (PDUs) available for the rack.

    • Power option – The power option that you can provide for the hardware.

    • Power connector – The power connector that AWS should plan to provide for connections to the hardware.

    • Power feed drop – Indicate whether the power feed comes above or below the rack.

    • Uplink speed – The uplink speed the rack should support for the connection to the Region, in Gbps.

    • Number of uplinks – The number of uplinks for each Outpost networking device that you intend to use to connect the rack to your network.

    • Fiber type – The type of fiber that you will use to attach the rack to your network.

    • Optical standard – The type of optical standard that you will use to attach the rack to your network.

  9. (Optional) For Site notes, enter any other information that might be useful for AWS to know about the site.

  10. Read the facility requirements, and then select I have read the facility requirements.

  11. Choose Create site.

Step 2: Create an Outpost

Create an Outpost for your racks. You will specify this Outpost when you create a quote and place your order.

Prerequisites

  • Determine the AWS Availability Zone to associate with your site.

To create an Outpost

  1. In the navigation pane, choose Outposts.

  2. Choose Create Outpost.

  3. Choose Racks.

  4. Enter a name and description for your Outpost.

  5. Choose an Availability Zone for your Outpost.

  6. (Optional) To configure private connectivity, select Use Private connectivity. Choose a VPC and subnet in the same AWS account and Availability Zone as your Outpost. For more information, see Prerequisites.

    Note

    If you need to remove the private connectivity for your Outpost, you must contact AWS Support Center.

  7. For Site ID, choose your site.

  8. Choose Create Outpost.

Note

You won't be able to modify the AZ anchor or physical location of your Outpost after you complete the order.

Step 3: Create a quote

A quote provides a cost estimate based on your Outpost configuration. It includes rack configurations showing what your setup will look like if the order is placed. Quotes are generated within seconds and are valid for 30 days.

To create a quote

  1. From the navigation pane, choose Quotes.

  2. Choose Create quote.

  3. For General information, provide the following:

    • Description (optional) – Enter a description to help differentiate between quotes. For example, include the purpose, configuration, or specific requirements of the Outpost.

    • Outpost type – Select New outpost if you are creating a new Outpost, or Existing outpost if you are expanding the capacity of an already deployed Outpost.

    Note

    Outposts on a month-to-month subscription cannot be scaled. To scale, you must first renew your term.

  4. Country (new Outpost) – Select the country where your Outpost will be installed. Not all Outpost configurations are available in all countries.

    Outpost ID (existing Outpost) – Select the Outpost ID for the Outpost you want to add capacity to.

  5. For Select capacities, choose the compute capacity for your Outpost. You can select capacity in two ways:

    • By capacity type – Select the quantity of your desired Amazon EC2 instance types and sizes.

    • By configuration – Select from predefined configurations designed for common use cases, or previously used configurations from your account history.

    Note

    You can only select instance capacities supported by your chosen Outpost generation and form factor.

  6. For Storage types, select the storage capacity for your Outpost:

    • EBS storage (in TB) – Select an Amazon EBS storage capacity tier to provide persistent block storage for your Amazon EC2 instances.

    • S3 storage (in TB) (optional) – Add Amazon S3 on Outposts capacity for local object storage.

    Note

    Your input will be rounded up to the nearest supported storage tier. Amazon S3 on Outposts storage may not be available in all regions.

  7. (Optional) For Site details, provide your site's power, space, and weight limits. While optional for quotes, providing site details helps ensure the recommended configuration is suitable for your facility and may affect your estimated quote.

    Note

    Complete site information including operating address, shipping address, and rack physical properties will be required to place your order.

  8. Choose Get quote.

After your quote is generated, you can review the recommended Outpost configurations and pricing options. You can download your quote as a PDF for sharing or record-keeping.

To edit a quote

  • Navigate to the quotes page, select the quote you want to modify, choose Actions, and select Edit quote. This allows you to update your requirements and receive a revised estimate.

Note

You can refresh an existing quote by using the Refresh button to update pricing without changing your configuration. Quotes expire after 30 days. You can recreate an expired quote by using the Recreate quote button, which will populate a new quote form with the same details from your expired quote.

Step 4: Place the order

Once you have reviewed your quote, you can place your order. Each quote can only be used for a single order.

Important

You can't edit an order after you submit it, so review all details carefully before submission. If you need to change an order, contact your AWS Account Manager.

Prerequisites

  • An active Enterprise Support or Unified Operations plan.

  • An Outpost created with an associated site.

  • Complete site details including operating address, shipping address, and rack physical properties.

  • Determine how you will pay for the order. You can pay all upfront, partially upfront, or nothing upfront. If you choose partial upfront or no upfront, you'll pay monthly charges over the contract term.

To place an order

  1. From the navigation pane, choose Quotes.

  2. Select the quote you want to order from and choose Place order.

  3. If your quote was created with only a country selected, you will need to select an Outpost before proceeding.

  4. For Payment terms, select your contract term and payment option:

    Term length – Choose the length of your Outpost contract:

    • 1-year contract – Shorter commitment with higher overall costs.

    • 3-year contract – Longer commitment with lower overall costs.

    • 5-year contract – Longest commitment with the lowest overall costs.

    Payment options – Select how you want to pay:

    • No upfront – Pay nothing upfront and higher monthly charges throughout the contract term.

    • Partial upfront – Pay a portion upfront with reduced monthly charges for the remainder of the contract.

    • All upfront – Pay the entire contract amount upfront with no monthly charges.

    Note

    If you are adding capacity to an existing Outpost, your order will be prorated to align with your existing Outpost's contract end date.

  5. Choose Next.

  6. On the Review and order page, verify that your information is correct and edit as needed.

  7. Choose Place order.

After placing your order, you'll receive an order confirmation with next steps via email.

After placing your order

An AWS team will work with you to:

  • Finalize site preparation requirements.

  • Schedule a site assessment to verify site readiness.

  • Coordinate installation scheduling.

  • Complete any additional compliance or regulatory requirements for your region.

Once readiness is validated, your Outpost will be manufactured and delivered. An AWS technician will arrive on-site to begin installation, which involves powering up the rack, performing basic configuration, and validating that the Outpost networking devices can establish encrypted connectivity to the AWS Region.

Note

At the end of your contract term, you must choose between the following options at least 5 business days before your current subscription ends: renew your subscription, prepare your Outpost for return, or convert to month-to-month. If you take no action, your contract will automatically convert to a month-to-month subscription at the No Upfront rate.

Step 5: Modify instance capacity

An Outpost provides a pool of AWS compute and storage capacity at your site as a private extension of an Availability Zone in an AWS Region. Because the compute and storage capacity available in the Outpost is finite and determined by the size and number of racks that AWS installs at your site, you get to decide how much Amazon EC2, Amazon EBS, and Amazon S3 on AWS Outposts capacity you need to run your initial workloads, accommodate future growth, and to provide extra capacity to mitigate server failures and maintenance events.

The capacity of each new Outpost order is configured with a default capacity configuration. You can convert the default configuration to create various instances to meet your business needs. To do so, you create a capacity task, specify the instance sizes and quantity, and run the capacity task to implement the changes.

Note

  • You can change the quantity of instance sizes after you place the order for your Outposts.

  • Instances sizes and quantities are defined at the Outpost level.

  • Instances are placed automatically based on best practices.

To modify instance capacity

  1. From the AWS Outposts console's left navigation pane, choose Capacity tasks.

  2. On the Capacity tasks page, choose Create capacity task.

  3. On the Getting started page, choose the order.

  4. To modify capacity, you can use the steps in the console or upload a JSON file.

Console steps

  1. Choose Modify an Outpost capacity configuration.

  2. Choose Next.

  3. On the Configure instance capacity page, each instance type shows one instance size with the maximum quantity preselected. To add more instance sizes, choose Add instance size.

  4. Specify the instance quantity and note the capacity that is displayed for that instance size.

  5. View the message at the end of each instance-type section that informs you if you are over or under capacity. Make adjustments at the instance size or quantity level to optimize your total available capacity.

  6. You can also request AWS Outposts to optimize the instance quantity for a specific instance size. To do so:

    1. Choose the instance size.

    2. Choose Auto-balance at the end of the related instance-type section.

  7. For each instance type, ensure that the instance quantity is specified for at least one instance size.

  8. Choose Next.

  9. On the Review and create page, verify the updates that you are requesting.

  10. Choose Create. AWS Outposts creates a capacity task.

  11. On the capacity task page, monitor the status of the task.

    Note

    • AWS Outposts might request you to stop one or more running instances to enable running the capacity task. After you stop these instances, AWS Outposts will run the task.

    • If you need to change your capacity after you complete your order, contact AWS Support Center to make the changes.

Upload a JSON file

  1. Choose Upload a capacity configuration.

  2. Choose Next.

  3. On the Upload capacity configuration plan page, upload the JSON file that specifies the instance type, size, and quantity.

    Example

    Example JSON file:

    {
    "InstancePools": [
        {
            "InstanceType": "c5.24xlarge",
            "Count": 1
        },
        {
            "InstanceType": "m5.24xlarge",
            "Count": 2
        }
    ]
}

  4. Review the contents of the JSON file in the Capacity configuration plan section.

  5. Choose Next.

  6. On the Review and create page, verify the updates that you are requesting.

  7. Choose Create. AWS Outposts creates a capacity task.

  8. On the capacity task page, monitor the status of the task.

    Note

    • AWS Outposts might request you to stop one or more running instances to enable running the capacity task. After you stop these instances, AWS Outposts will run the task.

    • If you need to change your capacity after you complete your order, contact AWS Support Center to make the changes.

    • To troubleshoot issues, see Troubleshooting capacity task issues.

Next steps

You can view the status of your order using the AWS Outposts console. The initial status of your order is Created. If you have any questions about your order, contact AWS Support Center.

To fulfill the order, AWS will schedule a date and time with you.

You will also receive a checklist of items to verify or provide before the installation. The AWS installation team will arrive at your site at the scheduled date and time. The team will roll the rack to the identified position and your electrician can power the rack. The team will establish network connectivity for the rack over the uplink that you provide, and will configure the rack's capacity. The installation is complete when you confirm that the Amazon EC2 and Amazon EBS capacity for your Outpost is available from your AWS account.