How to size your AWS Outposts rack configuration from server inventory

This article provides a five-step guide for sizing AWS Outposts rack configurations based on existing server inventory.

• Collect server inventory with both provisioned specs and actual utilization data (2-4 weeks minimum)
• Categorize workloads by latency, data residency, dependencies, and processing needs
• Determine placement: AWS Region, Local Zones, or Outposts based on requirements
• Right-size workloads and map to EC2 instance families (C, M, or R)
• Calculate host counts accounting for slotting, managed services, growth buffers, and fault tolerance
• Plan storage using EBS, S3, or third-party integration with growth considerations
• Validate configuration with AWS team and choose contract term (1, 3, or 5 years)

The guide emphasizes using actual utilization data over provisioned specs, defaulting workloads to the Region, and planning N+1 or N+2 spare capacity for host failure resilience.