10 AWS Cloud Developments in October You Should Know About

As with any month, October has seen pivotal advancements in cloud computing across AWS Platform, reflecting the ongoing efforts to enhance performance, security, and integration capabilities within their ecosystem.

However, this is a partial list of all the AWS updates that have been rolled-out in the past month. Still, we have curated a selection to keep you informed about the latest developments in cloud technology.

Here are our top picks from October highlights!

1. Amazon Redshift launches RA3.large instances

Amazon Redshift launches RA3.large, a new smaller size in the RA3 node type with 2 vCPU and 16 GiB memory.

This instance type offers all the innovation of Redshift Managed Storage (RMS), including scaling and paying for compute and storage independently, data sharing, write operations support for concurrency scaling, and is available in all commercial regions.

The introduction of RA3.large will provide customers with even more flexible compute options to meet the price-performance requirements of diverse workloads and brings all the benefits of Redshift Managed Storage. To learn about RA3.large and RA3 node type, visit the Upgrading to RA3 node type’ documentation and Amazon Redshift pricing page.

2. AWS Compute Optimizer now supports 80 new Amazon EC2 instance types

AWS Compute Optimizer now supports 80 additional types of Amazon EC2 instances, bringing the total to 779. This expansion includes next-generation compute, memory, storage, and GPU-based instances, opening new avenues for cost savings and performance improvements.

1. Next-generation instances: The update covers c7i-flex, c6id, c8g (optimized for compute), r8g, x8g (optimized for memory), i4i (optimized for storage), and several GPU-based instances.
2. Graviton power: The new c8g, r8g, and x8g instances feature AWS Graviton4 processors, offering up to 60% better performance than Graviton2.
3. Intel advancements: The C7i-flex instances, powered by 4th generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors, present a 5% better price/performance ratio compared to c7i instances.

You can start using AWS Compute Optimizer through the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, and AWS SDK. For more information about the regions where Compute Optimizer is available, see AWS Region table.

3. Live Migration Host Maintenance for Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts

With host maintenance, in the event that a Dedicated Host becomes degraded, AWS automatically migrate supported instances running on it onto a healthy replacement Dedicated Host.

Amazon EC2 now supports two types of host maintenance:

• Live migration host maintenance — instances are automatically migrated to the replacement host within 24 hours, without stopping and restarting them.
• Reboot-based host maintenance — instances are scheduled for instance reboot scheduled events, during which they are automatically stopped and restarted on the replacement host.

To learn more, see Host maintenance in the Amazon EC2 User Guide.

4. Simplifying Lambda function development using CloudWatch Logs Live Tail and Metrics Insights

AWS announced two new features which simplify the developer and operator experience for serverless applications built using AWS Lambda

The Lambda console now natively supports Amazon CloudWatch Logs Live Tail which provides you real-time visibility into Lambda function logs, making it easier to develop and troubleshoot Lambda functions.

The Lambda console also offer Amazon CloudWatch Metrics Insights dashboard for key Lambda function metrics, enabling you to easily identify and troubleshoot the source of errors or performance issues.

Live Tail enables you to view and analyze Lambda logs in real time, which simplifies and accelerates the author-test-deploy cycle and makes it easy to troubleshoot errors in Lambda functions. On the other hand, CloudWatch Metrics Insights dashboard shows key Lambda metrics like errors, invocations, and duration to reduce the mean time to recover (MTTR) from errors and performance issues for Lambda functions.

To learn more, visit the launch blog post and Lambda developer guide.

5. AWS CodeBuild now supports managed network access control lists

AWS CodeBuild now allows customers to control network traffic in and out of their build environment using managed network access control lists (NACLs) for reserved capacity fleets. AWS CodeBuild is a fully managed continuous integration service that compiles source code, runs tests, and produces software packages ready for deployment.

NACLs are an optional layer of security for your fleet that acts as a firewall for controlling traffic in and out of your build environment. Customers using reserved capacity can configure rules to allow or deny traffic for external sites. Builds running on the fleet will route their network traffic through a CodeBuild managed proxy server.

To learn more about the support for managed NACLs, please visit AWS CodeBuild User Guide

6. AWS’ Transcription Service now supports 30 additional languages

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has expanded the speech recognition abilities of its transcription tool. Amazon Transcribe, an automatic speech recognition (ASR) service, now supports streaming transcription in 30 additional languages.

New languages supported with this release include Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic (Gulf), Arabic (Standard), Basque, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Farsi, Finnish, Galician, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Latvian, Malay, Norwegian, Polish ,Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Somali, Swedish, Tagalog, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, and Zulu

This enhancement helps reach a broader global audience and improves accessibility across various industries, including contact centers, broadcasting, and e-learning. The expanded language support allows for more efficient content moderation, improved agent productivity, and automatic subtitling for live events and meetings.

7. AWS Network Load Balancer and Amazon ARC Add Zonal Shift and Autoshift Support

AWS has expanded Amazon Application Recovery Controller (ARC) with zonal shift and zonal autoshift support for Network Load Balancers (NLBs) and Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), boosting application resilience across Availability Zones (AZs). With zonal shift, users can now quickly reroute traffic away from impaired AZs, reducing the impact of outages or failures. Zonal autoshift automates this process, redirecting traffic when AWS detects potential AZ issues.

This update allows cross-zone NLBs to leverage these ARC features, keeping traffic evenly distributed while enabling fast recovery during disruptions. Amazon EKS clusters can now also shift traffic to healthy AZs, ensuring Pods aren’t scheduled in affected zones. Configuration is straightforward via the NLB and EKS consoles or APIs, making it easier than ever for customers to ensure high availability and resilience.

8. Amazon Managed Service for Prometheus Adds IPv6 Support and Configurable Alert Duration

Amazon Managed Service for Prometheus has introduced two key updates: IPv6 support and the ability to configure a minimum firing period for alerts.

With IPv6 support, customers can now run their Prometheus workspaces on a network that supports both IPv4 and IPv6, simplifying network management and addressing the IPv4 exhaustion issue. This update allows connections to Prometheus APIs using IPv6 while still supporting IPv4 for those who need it.

Additionally, the service now enables configuring a minimum duration for alerts to remain active, even after the alert condition resolves. This feature reduces alert noise by preventing frequent state changes between “firing” and “resolved,” ensuring alerts stay active until issues are fully resolved.

These updates enhance Prometheus’s flexibility and reliability, making it easier for customers to monitor and manage operational metrics at scale.

Check out the Amazon Managed Service for Prometheus user guide for detailed documentation

9. AWS IAM Identity Center Introduces Unified Identity Context for Simplified Access Management

AWS IAM Identity Center now allows developers to use a single identity context for users accessing AWS services, streamlining identity management and access authorization for applications.

Previously, developers had to manage two separate IAM role sessions to enable trusted identity propagation for services, dividing roles between services that authorize access by user and those that only log identity for audits. With this update, developers can leverage a unified IAM role session with sts:identity_context, enabling any AWS service to authorize access through a single identity context. AWS services using CloudTrail event version 1.09 and above now log user identity details from IAM Identity Center, enhancing traceability.

IAM Identity Center connects existing workforce identity sources to AWS, providing personalized access experiences across AWS applications and centralized management of multi-account access.

10. Amazon QuickSight Enhances Data Sharing, Backup, and Reporting with New Features

Amazon QuickSight has launched several updates to improve data sharing, organization, and reporting capabilities, including subfolders in restricted folders, programmatic export/import of shared folders, and API-triggered scheduled reports.

1. Subfolders in Restricted Folders: QuickSight now supports subfolders within restricted folders, enabling more structured and governed data sharing. Users with Contributor permissions can create content in these subfolders, while administrators control broader access and permissions. Additionally, the new RestoreAnalysis API allows admins to restore deleted analyses directly into restricted folders.
2. Programmatic Export and Import of Shared Folders: QuickSight now enables programmatic export and import of shared folders with the updated StartAssetBundleExportJob and StartAssetBundleImportJob APIs, allowing easier replication, backup, and migration of folders and assets across environments. This feature is available in Amazon QuickSight Enterprise Edition across all supported regions.
3. API-Triggered Scheduled Reports: Developers can now trigger scheduled QuickSight reports through the StartDashboardSnapshotJobSchedule API, expanding event-driven reporting capabilities. This allows automated workflows to distribute reports to predefined recipients based on custom events, such as dataset refreshes.

These features enhance QuickSight’s capabilities for governed data sharing, automated backups, and flexible, event-driven reporting across various regions and enterprise environments. To learn more, see Organizing assets into folders for Amazon QuickSight.

Upcoming AWs events

Check your calendars and sign up for these AWS events:

AWS GenAI Lofts – AWS GenAI Lofts are about more than just the tech, they bring together startups, developers, investors, and industry experts. Whether you’re looking to gain deep insights, or get your questions answered by generative AI pros, our GenAI Lofts have you covered and provide everything you need to start building your next innovation. Join events in Seoul (October 30–November 6), São Paulo (through November 20), and Paris (through November 25).

AWS Community Days – Join community-led conferences that feature technical discussions, workshops, and hands-on labs led by expert AWS users and industry leaders from around the world: Malta (November 8), Chile (November 9), and Kochi, India (December 14).

AWS re:Invent – Registration is now open for the annual tech extravaganza, taking place December 2–6 in Las Vegas. At re:Invent 2024, you’ll get a front row seat to hear real stories from customers and AWS leaders about navigating pressing topics, such as generative AI. Learn about new product launches, watch demos, and get behind-the-scenes insights during five headline-making keynotes.