Major AWS Updates and Announcements of 2022

AWS, short for Amazon Web Services, is the world’s largest platform for cloud computing services. It offers 250+ services and solutions to help organizations of all sizes scale their IT systems and business operations with cloud computing. AWS occupies a massive market share of 34% in the infrastructure service providers in 2022, with a gap of 13% to its nearest competitor Microsoft Azure at 21% (according to Statista).

As the largest adopted cloud platform, AWS regularly rolls out new services, features, and functionalities with its plethora of services. In this article, we have made a list of selected major updates from AWS in 2022 in a monthly order.

January

1. New AWS Console Experience
AWS announced a redesigned home page for the AWS Management Console. The new home page experience includes dynamic content, can be customized, and can show data from multiple AWS Regions. Source

2. Replication for Amazon Elastic File System (EFS)
Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) is a fully-managed, shared file storage service on AWS. With the addition of replication, EFS can automatically create copies of file systems for continuity or compliance during disaster recovery. Source

3. Amazon EC2 Hpc6a Instance Optimized for High-Performance Computing
Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched a new Instance type designed for High-Performance Computing that boasts 100 Gbps networking through an Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA) and 96 third-generation AMD EPYC™ Milan processor cores with 384 GB of RAM. This new offering provides up to 65 percent better price performance than similar x86-based compute-optimized instances. Source

4. Anomaly Detection for Historical Data with Amazon OpenSearch
The integration of AWS and OpenSearch allows for machine learning in anomaly detection for historical data. This service is essential in identifying patterns, trends, and seasonal fluctuations in past data, allowing customers to gain valuable insights and improve their applications’ efficiency. Source

5. AWS Data Exchange for Amazon RedShift
AWS Data Exchange now offers a convenient feature for customers to discover and access third-party data in just minutes. This allows them to seamlessly integrate this data with their own first-party data in an Amazon Redshift data warehouse without needing any extracting, transforming, or loading (ETL) processes. With this integration, customers can quickly query, evaluate, analyze, and join third-party data to gain valuable insights. Source

February

1. Batch Replication for Existing Objects with Amazon S3
It provides a simple way to replicate existing data from a source bucket to one or more destinations. With this capability, customers can replicate any number of objects with a single job. Source.

2. EC2 C6a Instances for Compute-Intensive Workloads
New compute-optimized Amazon EC2 C6a instances are ideal for running compute-intensive workloads such as high-performance web servers, batch processing, ad serving, machine learning, multiplayer gaming, video encoding, high-performance computing (HPC) such as scientific modeling, and machine learning. Source

3. Auto-Adjusting Budgets
Customers can choose a budget method that suits their needs, whether fixed, planned, or auto-adjusting limits. The auto-adjusting budget eliminates the need for guesswork by automatically determining the budget amount based on past costs or usage within a specific timeframe. Source

4. AWS Backup for Amazon S3
Providing AWS Backup for S3 makes it easier for customers to centrally automate the backup and restore of application data stored in Amazon S3 along with other AWS services for computing, storage, and database. Source

5. App Runner Adds a Java Platform
AWS App Runner supports a Java language platform for building and running Java-based web applications. With Java support on App Runner, developers can directly use Java-based source code with Amazon Correct to runtimes to build and run web applications on AWS App Runner. Source

March

1. Customer Carbon Footprint Tool
This tool enables businesses to meet their sustainability goals by giving them insights into the carbon footprints of their infrastructure on AWS and is available to all AWS customers at no cost.

Users can access their carbon footprint on the Cost & Usage Report in their AWS Billing Console. Source

2. New EC2 X2idn and X2iedn instances for Memory-Intensive Workloads
The X2idn and X2iedn instances are designed for memory-intensive workloads and deliver performance improvements, price performance, and cost per GiB of memory compared to previous generation X1 instances Source.

3. Up to 10 GB Ephemeral Storage on AWS Lambda
Customers now have access to a secure, low-latency ephemeral file system with up to 10 GB of storage, thanks to the increased AWS Lambda ephemeral storage. This allows users to control the amount of storage allocated for reading or writing data, enabling them to use AWS Lambda for tasks such as ETL jobs, ML inference, or other data-intensive workloads. Source.

4. AWS GameKit for Unreal Engine
With AWS GameKit, AWS provides game developers the functionality to deploy and customize game backend features directly from Unreal Engine. AWS GameKit is for game developers looking to build AWS-powered game features directly from Unreal Engine with just a few clicks. Source.

April

1. Amazon EC2 Launched Automatic Recovery on Hardware Failure by Default
This new feature makes it easier to recover your instance when it becomes unreachable. Automatic recovery migrates the instance to another hardware during an instance reboot while retaining its instance ID, private IP addresses, Elastic IP addresses, and all instance metadata.

2. AWS Amplify Studio
Amplify Studio is a visual interface that simplifies front- and back-end development for web and mobile applications. A key feature of Amplify Studio is integration with Figma, helping designers and front-end developers to work collaboratively on design and development tasks. Source

3. Auto Scaling in AWS Glue
With Auto Scaling, AWS Glue 3.0 can dynamically scale resources up and down based on the workload. Customers can handle over-provisioning resources for jobs, spend time optimizing the number of workers, or pay for idle workers. Source

4. Amazon SES V2 updates Inbound & Outbound Email Size
AWS SES can now support emails up to 40 MB (including the email text, images, attachments, and the MIME encoding) for both sending & receiving by default. The email size capacity has been increased from 10 MB for sending & to 30 MB for receiving. Source.

May

1. AWS GameKit supports Android, iOS, and MacOS games built with Unreal Engine
AWS GameKit allows game developers to build AWS-powered game features directly from the Unreal Editor; with just a few clicks, it supports game developers building games for Win64, macOS, Android, and iOS. Source

2. AWS Lambda supports Node.js 16
Node.js 16 is supported by AWS Lambda both as a managed runtime and a container base image. Serverless developers can now develop AWS Lambda functions using the Node.js 16 runtime. Source

3. Amazon EC2 Stop Protection Feature to Protect Instances From Unintentional Stop Actions
AWS provides a new feature with the EC2 to safeguard instances against accidental, unintentional stoppages. With this feature enabled, an EC2 instance cannot be stopped or terminated directly through the console, API call, or CLI command but only after disabling the stop protection feature. Source

4. AWS DataSync supports Other Public Locations
AWS DataSync updates its data migration capability to migrate between AWS Storage services and either Google Cloud Storage or Microsoft Azure files. Source

June

1. Multiple Staging & target accounts with AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery
The functionality of AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery has been enhanced to include support for multiple staging and target accounts, making setting up, implementing, and monitoring disaster recovery much more streamlined and efficient, particularly for large-scale projects. Source

2. Automated Chatbot Designer on Amazon Lex
The Amazon Lex chatbot designer utilizes machine learning techniques to analyze conversation transcripts and generate a chatbot design, thus streamlining the chatbot creation process and reducing the workload for developers. Source.

3. Amazon EC2 Stop Protection Feature to Protect Instances From Unintentional Stop Actions
AWS provides a new feature with the EC2 to safeguard instances against accidental, unintentional stoppages. With this feature enabled, an EC2 instance cannot be stopped or terminated directly through the console, API call, or CLI command but only after disabling the stop protection feature. Source

4. Introducing Amazon Code Whisperer – ML Powered Coding Companion
AWS revealed a new service as the Code Whisperer.

Code Whisperer is a tool that uses artificial intelligence to suggest code based on a developer’s written explanations and the code they have written in their programming environment. Its goal is to increase efficiency for programmers. Source.

July

1. Amazon Redshift Serverless
Amazon Redshift Serverless is a version of Amazon Redshift that allows for data analysis at any scale without the need to maintain data warehouse infrastructure.

With this option, users only need to load and query the data and are only charged for what they use.

This version of Amazon Redshift automatically intelligently scales capacity to provide quick performance for heavy and unpredictable workloads.

2. IAM Roles Anywhere
IAM Roles Anywhere enhances the functionality of IAM roles by allowing them to be used for workloads outside AWS.

This feature enables on-premises servers, containers, or applications to securely obtain temporary AWS credentials, eliminating the need for managing long-term AWS credentials. Source

3. AWS Cloud WAN
AWS Cloud WAN is a service that assists in constructing, controlling, and observing a consolidated international network.

The service is responsible for managing the flow of information between your AWS resources and your on-premises environments. Source.

4. AI Use Case Explorer
The AI Use Case Explorer is an online tool that helps businesses find the best artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for their needs. The tool allows users to input their business problems and receive relevant use cases and success stories as output.

This makes it easy for businesses to identify the right AI use case and mobilize their teams toward deployment. The tool also includes an expert-curated action plan to guide businesses through the process, from proof-of-concept to full production. Overall, this tool helps businesses overcome the obstacle of identifying the right AI use case to get started with adoption. Source.

August

1.Tiered Pricing for AWS Lambda
AWS announced tiered pricing for monthly Lambda function duration, i.e., GB-Seconds of usage. The two additional pricing tiers provide discounts on your aggregate monthly on-demand function duration. Tiered pricing is applied automatically to the monthly bill – no action is required on the customers’ part, and no change to the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, or AWS SDKs. Source

2. AWS Skill Builder Subscriptions to Upskill in AWS
The skill builder subscribers can access many engaging training and exam prep resources. The resources include new AWS Cloud Quest roles, AWS Builder Labs, AWS Jam events, and access to AWS Certification exam prep courses and AWS Certification Official Practice Exams. The Skill Builder Team subscription allows administrators to assign training to individuals, and built-in reports show administrators their team members’ course enrollment, progress, completion rates, and more. Source

3. Reduced Startup-time for SageMaker training instances
Amazon SageMaker’s Automatic Model Tuning now reduces the start-up time of training jobs by 20x on average, cutting it down to just 8 seconds from 2.5 minutes. This feature helps optimize models by running multiple training jobs with specific hyperparameter ranges that you select for your algorithm. The Automatic Model Tuning then selects the hyperparameter values that result in the best-performing model. Source.

4. Quick Connectivity between RDS Databases and EC2 Instances
By enabling automatic connectivity, the process of creating a database connection between Amazon Relational Database Services (Amazon RDS) and Amazon Aurora databases to an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) compute instance is simplified. This eliminates manual tasks such as setting up a VPC, security groups, subnets, and ingress/egress rules. This improves efficiency for new users and application developers who can launch a database instance and connect to an application on a compute instance within minutes. Source.

September

1. New AWS IAM Center APIs to manage users and groups at scale
The AWS IAM Identity Center now offers APIs that allow for user and group management automation. These APIs allow for creating, reading, updating, and deleting users and groups, replacing the previous manual process done through the IAM Identity Center console. With these new APIs, administrators can streamline their efforts, save time, and gain greater visibility into the available users and groups in IAM Identity Center. Source

2. Added AWS Controllers for Kubernetes (ACK)
Using ACK controllers, customers are now able to provision and control AWS resources such as Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), AWS Lambda, AWS Step Functions, Amazon Managed Service for Prometheus (AMP), and AWS Key Management Service (KMS) within their Kubernetes clusters. This allows for the integration of AWS-managed services seamlessly into Kubernetes applications, eliminating the need for external resource definition or running supporting services within the cluster. Source

3. Visual Conversation Builder for Amazon Lex
Amazon Lex is a service that allows you to integrate conversational interfaces into any application using voice and text. The Visual Conversation Builder for Amazon Lex is a user-friendly, drag-and-drop interface that allows you to design and create conversation flows in a no-code environment. Along with the existing menu-based editor and Lex APIs, the visual builder offers a comprehensive overview of the entire conversation flow in one place. Source

4. Ubuntu is Available in AWS Workspaces
Amazon Workspaces is a fully managed desktop virtualization service for Windows and Linux that allows you to access resources from any supported device. With the introduction of Ubuntu desktops, AWS Workspace now offers greater flexibility for virtual desktop users. Virtual desktop administrators can now benefit from a unified experience when managing Windows and Linux-based desktops. This allows for a streamlined process and tools to manage most desktop operating systems. Source.

October

1. AWS Activate open to all Startups
AWS launched the availability of the new AWS Activate to any self-identified startup. Activate is full of personalized tools and resources designed to support startups through every stage of their journey, from their initial idea to building an MVP, securing their first customer, scaling their business on AWS, and beyond. AWS Activate members can apply for up to $100,000 in AWS credits, technical support credits, and access to exclusive third-party offers. Source

2. Git Integration with AWS Glue
AWS has integrated AWS Glue with Git to provide better version control for developers. This allows customers to use GitHub and AWS CodeCommit to keep track of changes to their AWS Glue jobs and use their existing DevOps practices to deploy them. The feature includes built-in support for both GitHub and AWS CodeCommit and makes it easier to use automation tools like Jenkins and AWS CodeDeploy to deploy AWS Glue jobs. Source

3. Amazon Neptune Serverless
Amazon Neptune Serverless is a new way to deploy graph databases that eliminates the need for developers to manage capacity. It automatically adjusts the capacity according to the application’s needs, making it both convenient and economical.
Source.

4. Amazon Aurora Serverless V2 supports CloudFormation
AWS CloudFormation templates allow for the deployment and modification of Aurora Serverless v2 and other components of AWS infrastructure in a secure, efficient, and consistent way. Aurora Serverless v2 immediately adapts to the needs of even the most demanding applications, offering up to 90% savings in cost compared to preparing for the maximum capacity. Source.

November

4. AWS Resource Explorer
AWS announced AWS Resource Explorer, a managed capability that simplifies the search and discovery of resources across AWS Regions in an AWS account. AWS Resource Explorer is available at no additional charge to users. From the search results displayed in the console, you can go to your resource’s service console and Region with a single step and take action. Source.

2. Domain Registration & DNS Autoconfiguration on AWS Lightsail
AWS Lightsail now allows domain registration, and clients can also auto-configure the Domain Name Systems. The AWS Command Line Interface (CLI), AWS SDKs, or the Lightsail Console can all be used to register a domain and access Lightsail’s DNS auto configuration features. Lightsail simplifies creating, installing, and managing application infrastructure with a more straightforward registration and DNS auto-configuration experience. Source

3. Cross-Account Access with Step Functions
AWS Step Functions introduced an updated feature to support cross-account access for more than 220+ AWS services. This feature allows businesses and their IT teams to process data, automate IT and business processes, and build applications across accounts. Cross-account support aids in preserving a distributed ownership model, accelerating development by repurposing already implemented procedures and organizational functions, and streamlining the design. Source

4. Multiple MFA devices for AWS Identity & Access Management
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) announced support for multiple multi-factor authentications (MFA) devices for root account users and IAM users in AWS accounts. This provides additional flexibility and resiliency in security strategy by enabling more than one authentication device per user. AWS clients can choose from one or more types of hardware and virtual devices supported by IAM. Source.

December

1. AWS re: Invent 2022
AWS conducted & concluded the annual re: Invent in the week 1 of December. As always, the re: Invent announced new features and news relating to AWS. We created a summary of the re: Invent 2022 updates in another blog. Here.

2. Amazon SageMaker Canvas supports ML Models built outside Amazon SageMaker
By doing so, engineering teams will only have to spend as much time and effort developing their tool or user interface to share ML models and work together across business divisions. Source.

3. Real-time inductive inference on Amazon Neptune ML
This launch allows customers to predict new data without updating their ML models. By training Neptune ML models on a representative sample of their graph data and then deploying them to generate predictions on any object in the graph, clients can now deploy Neptune ML models more quickly and save money. Source.

4. Amazon Cloudwatch Metrics Insights Alarms
Customers can use conventional SQL queries to trigger alarms on fleets of dynamically changing resources utilizing Amazon CloudWatch Metrics Insights alarms. With Metric Insights alerts, you can establish alarms using queries that track numerous resources without worrying about whether or not they are temporary. Source.

5. Visibility for terminated and canceled jobs with AWS Batch
You can now see the status of a task canceled or terminated using AWS Batch. With the help of this new flag, it becomes simple to keep track of the status of all upcoming jobs and to distinguish them from those that will eventually be terminated or canceled as they advance to the front of the queue. This gives you more insight into the jobs’ status and makes it easier for you to follow them throughout their lifecycle. Source.

6. Reserved Nodes for Amazon MemoryDB for Redis
In exchange for a usage commitment over a one- or three-year period, reserved nodes allow you to save up to 55% off on-demand node fees. MemoryDB Reserved nodes complement MemoryDB On-Demand nodes and allow companies the flexibility to help with cost-cutting. Source.

These were some major updates from AWS in 2022. As AWS rolls out lots of updates to its services every day, we only included a few in the list; you can check out all the announcements of AWS in 2022 here.

Adex is an AWS consulting partner, and we help businesses of all levels utilize AWS for their business needs with a competent & experienced team of AWS experts. You can get in touch with our team & get a free consultation regarding your cloud needs and infrastructure.