Definition

AWS GovCloud (Amazon Web Services GovCloud)

AWS GovCloud is an isolated data center region of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud designed to meet strict compliance requirements as defined by the U.S. Government. AWS restricts access to the GovCloud data center region, requiring a separate account ID and access credentials, ensuring that only persons with specific credentials can access data.

The AWS GovCloud allows access to U.S. persons who are not subject to export restrictions and comply with export regulations and laws. Qualified customers request access through the AWS Management Console or by contacting an AWS business representative. All agencies must sign a customer agreement to access the GovCloud region.

AWS GovCloud customers can run sensitive workloads in the region, which adheres to strict regulatory standards, including U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) regulations, Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) requirements and Department of Defense (DoD) Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide (SRG) Levels 2 and 4.

AWS GovCloud is located in the Northwest region of the United States, allowing government agencies already working in the US-East region to use multiple regions for redundancy. Government agencies are not required to use the AWS GovCloud.

This was last updated in March 2016

Continue Reading About AWS GovCloud (Amazon Web Services GovCloud)

Dig Deeper on AWS management

App Architecture
Cloud Computing
Software Quality
ITOperations
Close