亚马逊云服务将在欧洲设数据中心

Amazon is offering its corporate customers the option of running internet services and holding data in Germany as it addresses concerns from European businesses about the threat of online spying in the US.

亚马逊(Amazon)正向企业用户提供在德国运行互联网服务及保存数据的选项，这是为了应对欧洲企业对美国网络间谍活动的担忧。

The retailer’s cloud computing arm has unveiled plans to build centres in Frankfurt as businesses and governments in continental Europe have been increasingly alarmed at revelations of internet surveillance, exposed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

这家零售商的云计算部门公布了在法兰克福建立数据中心的计划。对于美国国家安全局(NSA)告密者爱德华•斯诺登(Edward Snowden)有关互联网监听活动的爆料，欧洲大陆的企业和政府日益感到恐慌。

US and UK security services were shown to be capable of breaking into the networks of the US’s leading technology companies, while there was uproar over revelations that the personal phone of German chancellor Angela Merkel had been tapped. European companies hoping to gain some protection from this surveillance have demanded that data be held on servers within the EU, which is seen to have stricter data protection laws than elsewhere in the world. This is particularly the case in Germany, which has powerful online privacy watchdogs.

从爆料内容看，美国和英国的安全部门能侵入美国主要技术公司的网络，同时德国总理安格拉•默克尔(Angela Merkel)的个人手机被曝遭监听，引发轩然大波。希望针对这种监听获得一些保护的欧洲企业要求将数据存储在欧盟(EU)境内的服务器上。欧盟被视为世界上数据保护法律最严格的地区，德国尤其如此，该国设有权力极大的网络隐私监督机构。

Andy Jassy, senior vice-president of Amazon Web Services, said the decision was because of the “cultural preferences” of companies in the region. “We have thousands of German customers and a number of those customers have told us that they would like to move their workload and data to AWS, but can’t do so until we have infrastructure here in Germany.” Previously, enterprises hoping to build their web operations using Amazon’s pay-as-you-go infrastructure would have used the company’s data centres in Ireland or nine other locations outside the EU.

亚马逊网站服务 (Amazon Web Services，简称AWS)高级副总裁安迪•雅西(Andy Jassy)称，做出这个决定是因为欧洲企业的“文化偏好”。“我们有成千上万的德国客户，其中一些客户告诉我们，他们希望能将工作量和数据转移到AWS平台，但只有当我们在德国拥有基础设施后他们才会这样做。”此前，希望使用这个按使用量付费的基础设施平台来进行web运作的企业，需要使用亚马逊设在爱尔兰或者欧盟以外地点的9个数据中心。

Research suggests that US-based cloud providers may be losing business to overseas competitors because of alarm at online snooping. Last year, a report from think-tank the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation found US cloud companies could lose $35bn by 2016 because of this trend.

研究表明，网络监控引发的恐慌可能使位于美国的云服务提供商被海外竞争者抢走业务。去年，智库“信息技术创新基金会”(Information Technology and Innovation Foundation)的一份报告显示，到2016年，这种趋势可能使美国的云服务企业损失350亿美元。

Aaron Levie, chief executive of Box, said his cloud enterprise company was looking at creating bespoke services built on data centres in Europe. But he argued that improved encryption and security were a better way to convince European groups to trust US tech providers. “The Snowden issue has obviously prompted more caution.”

云服务提供商Box的首席执行官阿龙•利维(Aaron Levie)表示，Box在考虑依托欧洲的数据中心提供定制服务。但他认为，要说服欧洲企业信任美国技术提供商，改善加密和安全技术是更好的办法。“斯诺登事件显然促使人们更为小心。”

Amazon does not disclose figures for its AWS business. But Macquarie Capital estimates the unit’s revenues will rise from $5.3bn this year to $8.1bn in 2015.

亚马逊并不公布AWS业务的详细业绩。但据麦格理资本(Macquarie Capital)的估算，该业务的收入将从今年的53亿美元升至2015年的81亿美元。