AWS sets up Local Zone in Delhi for latency-sensitive applications

Amazon’s cloud arm AWS has set up a Local Zone in Delhi for enterprise customers that are offering online services to end users in India. Local Zone is a cloud-based infrastructure where computing, storage, database, and other AWS services are deployed closer to where the company has its operations. AWS said that it is also setting up a Local Zone in Taiwan’s capital Taipei. 

Local Zones can solve the higher latency issues that are common in cloud gaming, live streaming, virtual workstations, and AR/VR applications. AWS claims applications hosted in a Local Zone offer low latency running in single-digit milliseconds. 

It also helps companies to store sensitive personal data locally and comply with the data residency laws, which will also be mandatory in India once the government rolls out a “comprehensive legal framework” and the new laws on data privacy.

AWS is working to set up Local Zones for its customers in 33 cities across 27 countries. The first such zone was set up in Los Angeles in 2019, which was followed by the announcement to set up three more zones in 2020 and 12 zones in 2021.  

Some of the companies that have benefited from AWS’ Local Zones include California-based gaming company Riot Games, Gurugram-based media company Zenga Media, and Singapore-based AdvaHealth Solutions. 

AWS claimed that Local Zones have allowed Riot Games to offer an optimal gaming experience with lower latency in multi-player online games such as Valorant and League of Legends. Similarly, Zenga Media is planning to leverage Local Zones to offer cloud-based video editing and sharing for TV shows, sports broadcasters, and news channels.

Most Internet infrastructure companies are setting up similar facilities in regions where digital transformation and online content consumption have grown. Early this week, Internet exchange company Equinix said that it will invest $74 million to set up a data centre facility in Jakarta, Indonesia. The company has set up such facilities in India too. In June, it announced an investment of $86 million to build another data centre facility in Mumbai.