AWS Podcast #738: AWS News – Global Cross-Region Inference, Aurora Limitless, and Lots More

Date: September 22, 2025
Hosts: Simon Elisha & Gillian Ford

Episode Overview

This episode features Simon Elisha and Gillian Ford recapping the latest AWS service launches and enhancements. The main themes include expanded global AI and database capabilities, analytics and developer experience updates, enhancements in security and networking, and new features across core AWS services. The hosts offer explanations, practical guidance, and personal takeaways, making this episode particularly insightful for AWS practitioners and architects.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Global Cross-Region Inference in Amazon Bedrock

• [00:32]
  Update: Bedrock now offers global cross-region inference for Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.
  • Previously, inference could be routed by regional profiles (e.g., us, eu, apec).
  • Now: A "global" setting routes requests to any commercial AWS region for optimal performance and availability.
  • Use Case: Ideal unless workload requires strict regional data residency.
  • Ease of Adoption:

    “It’s literally one little tiny change which should be parameterized in your code anyway. And you get access to a globe full of AI...”
    — Simon, [01:00]

  • Gillian’s Take:

    “If you're using Sonnet 4, I don't really see a reason why you wouldn't want to enable this.”
    — Gillian, [01:34]

2. Aurora Postgres Limitless with Postgres 16.9

• [02:14]
  • Aurora Limitless: Brings distributed query planning, transaction management, and serverless endpoints, blending relational and key-value store qualities.
  • Flexibility:

    “If you… want the flexibility of being able to scale up and down… you could be able to do both within Aurora Limitless.”
    — Gillian, [03:02]

  • Ideal For: Postgres users wanting seamless scaling with familiar tooling.

3. Analytics & Application Integration

• [03:29]
  • AWS Clean Rooms:
    • Now allows adding data provider members to existing collaborations.
    • Supports configurable compute size for PySpark and new ML features (redacted error log summaries).
  • Amazon MQ:
    • Supports OAuth2 plugin for RabbitMQ — simplifies authentication.

4. Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Updates

• [04:06]
  • Amazon Bedrock API Keys:
    • Three new condition keys to better govern key generation, expiration, and usage.
  • Amazon SageMaker Unified Studio:
    • Enhanced AI assistance (code refactoring, troubleshooting), integration with MCP servers, Amazon Q Developer contextual awareness.
    • GA of custom blueprints with managed policies.
    • Catalog now supports governed classifications with restricted terms.
  • Twelvelabs Marengo Embed 2.7:
    • Synchronous, low-latency text & image embeddings in Bedrock.
  • Agent Core Gateway:
    • AWS PrivateLink invocation, invocation logging for better auditing.
  • Amazon Q LLM Selection:
    • Choose LLMs (e.g., Nova Pro, Sonnet) in the Connect Web UI with no code.
  • Health Imaging:
    • Adds OpenID Connect for DICOM web API authentication.
  • SageMaker Hyperpod Checkpointing:
    • Managed, tiered checkpoints for minimizing training loss during failures.
  • Quote:

    “Checkpointing means you don’t have to do lots of rework, you can just keep on trucking.”
    — Simon, [07:55]

5. Compute & Container Enhancements

• [08:50]
  • Amazon ECS Console:
    • Now supports ECS Exec directly from the console for shell access—without managing SSH keys.
    • Enhanced task definition editing with Amazon Q Developer assistance.
  • Amazon EC2:
    • AMI usage reporting: Infrastructure-wide visibility with no extra cost.
    • Elastic Beanstalk: Now supports dual-stack (IPv6/IPv4) network/load balancers.

6. Database Updates

• [09:21]
  • RDS SQL Server:
    • New General Distribution Release (GDR) updates supported.
  • RDS for Postgres 18 (Preview):
    • Early access for testing and evaluating the latest database version.
    • Quote:

      “Preview environments... let you go right to the end of the freshness scale.”
      — Simon, [10:00]

  • Amazon Neptune:
    • Public endpoints for easier external development access.
  • RDS for Oracle:
    • New bare metal instances with 25% reduced pricing.
  • Neptune Analytics:
    • Supported as a graph store in NetworkX, with zero ETL for scaling workloads.

7. Developer & IoT Tools

• [11:50]
  • VS Code & LocalStack:
    • New integration for local serverless development without tool context-switching.
  • IoT SiteWise:
    • Automated anomaly detection model retraining and flexible scheduling.

8. Management and Governance

• [13:58]
  • AWS Config:
    • Resource tags for IAM policies, expanded resource types.
    • Query alarms now support dynamic metric selection, eliminating manual alarm management.
  • CloudWatch & Prometheus:
    • Quota visibility, querying metrics up to two weeks old (up from three hours), support for SAP best practices.
  • CloudFormation Hooks:
    • Manage controls; invocation summary increases governance and transparency.
  • AWS CDK Refactor (Preview):
    • Safe infrastructure refactoring with less risk of resource replacement.
    • Quote:

      “That ain’t easy... This is very cool in preview at the moment.”
      — Simon, [17:30]

9. Media & Content Delivery

• [18:12]
  • Elemental MediaConvert:
    • Integration with Time-addressable Media Store for efficient segment extraction.
  • Interactive Video Service:
    • Media ingest via VPC endpoints.
  • CloudWatch Network Monitoring:
    • Now includes cross-region flow visibility for in-depth network health diagnostics.
    • Quote:

      “As soon as I saw this, I thought, yep, doing that.”
      — Simon, [20:03]

  • CloudFront:
    • IPv6 to origin servers, TLS policy with post-quantum support, enhanced digital signature options.

10. Security, Identity, and Compliance

• [21:44]
  • AWS WAF:
    • Includes up to 500MB of CloudWatch log ingestion per 1M WAF requests at no extra cost.
  • Amazon GuardDuty:
    • Custom threat detection using domain-based entity lists and the new “Malicious Domain Request Custom” finding.
    • Quote:

      “…if you're not running GuardDuty, I haven't reminded face right? You should turn it on.”
      — Simon, [24:33]

  • Directory Service:
    • Certificate auto-enrollment, smart card, and certificate-based authentication enhancements.

11. Storage

• [23:51]
  • AWS Backup:
    • More granular options for including/excluding ACLs and object tags in S3 bucket backups.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You get access to a globe full of AI, which makes life a bit easier." — Simon, [01:00]
• "If you're using Sonnet 4, I don't really see a reason why you wouldn't want to enable this." — Gillian, [01:34]
• "Checkpointing means you don’t have to do lots of rework, you can just keep on trucking." — Simon, [07:55]
• "That ain’t easy... This is very cool in preview at the moment." (On CDK Refactor) — Simon, [17:30]
• "As soon as I saw this, I thought, yep, doing that." (On cross-region network health monitoring) — Simon, [20:03]
• "If you're not running GuardDuty... you should turn it on." — Simon, [24:33]

Important Segment Timestamps

• Global Cross-Region Inference for Bedrock: [00:32]
• Aurora Limitless Postgres 16.9: [02:14]
• AI/ML Enhancements (SageMaker, Bedrock): [04:06–08:15]
• Compute & AMI Reporting: [08:50]
• Database Updates: [09:21]
• Developer Tools & IoT: [11:50]
• Management & Governance (CDK Refactor): [13:58–18:09]
• Network Monitoring & CloudFront: [18:12–21:45]
• Security & GuardDuty: [21:44–24:42]
• S3 Backup Customization: [23:51]

Summary and Takeaways

This episode brims with major AWS service evolutions — notably in AI, database scaling, observability, developer tools, and security. Simon and Gillian provide the technical context plus practical tips, emphasizing how simple configuration changes (like global inference or AMI usage reporting) can have a big impact. The release of CDK Refactor, enhancements to GuardDuty, and expanded analytics and governance features stand out.

For professionals managing or developing on AWS, adopting these updates will streamline operations, enhance scalability, and offer better control and visibility across cloud environments.