Overview
S4 is a drop-in S3-compatible gateway that transparently compresses every object on the way to your S3 bucket. This AMI bundles everything for EC2: Amazon Linux 2023, the NVIDIA driver, the container runtime, and the GPU build of S4 (NVIDIA nvCOMP Bitcomp / zstd / GDeflate) preinstalled as a systemd service. No setup of CUDA, drivers, or nvCOMP is required.
On a GPU instance (g4dn, g5, g6) S4 routes integer and columnar data (Parquet, ORC, postings, time-series) to nvCOMP GPU codecs and text or log data to CPU zstd, choosing per object. Already-compressed inputs pass through untouched.
No application changes: same S3 wire protocol, same SigV4 authentication, same SDK calls. You only change the endpoint URL. Range GET requests stay fast through a sidecar frame index compatible with Parquet and ORC readers. The on-backend format is open, so there is no lock-in: stop the gateway and objects remain readable with the Apache-2.0 s4-codec CLI, the s4-codec Python package, or the s4fs fsspec adapter.
Operate it with built-in day-2 tooling: s4 estimate projects savings before you deploy, s4 migrate retro-compresses existing objects, s4 recompact re-compresses cold data, s4 maintain runs policy-driven maintenance, and s4 savings reports the storage bytes and dollars actually saved. Prometheus metrics and a Grafana dashboard are included.
Setup: launch the AMI on a GPU instance, attach an IAM instance profile granting access to your bucket, set your S3 endpoint in /etc/s4/s4.env, and start the service. This AMI is billed per instance hour through your AWS bill. The same software is also available free under the Apache-2.0 license.
Highlights
- GPU compression preinstalled: NVIDIA driver + nvCOMP (Bitcomp / zstd / GDeflate) baked into the AMI. Launch on g4dn / g5 / g6 and S4 uses the GPU automatically for integer and columnar data.
- 50-80 percent fewer S3 storage bytes for compressible data, with measured per-bucket savings reporting (s4 savings) built in.
- Zero application changes and no lock-in: S3 wire-compatible endpoint, and objects stay readable without the gateway via Apache-2.0 CLI / Python / fsspec tooling.
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Pricing
Dimension | Cost/hour |
|---|---|
g4dn.xlarge Recommended | $0.10 |
g5.24xlarge | $0.10 |
g5.12xlarge | $0.10 |
g6.24xlarge | $0.10 |
g4dn.8xlarge | $0.10 |
g5.48xlarge | $0.10 |
g6.16xlarge | $0.10 |
g6.48xlarge | $0.10 |
g6e.16xlarge | $0.10 |
g4dn.4xlarge | $0.10 |
Vendor refund policy
S4 is billed per instance hour on metered usage; charges stop when the instance is terminated. Usage already incurred is generally non-refundable. If you were billed in error or a defect prevented normal use, email aws-support@abyo.net within 30 days with your AWS account ID and the billing period. Valid refunds are processed through AWS Marketplace.
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Delivery details
64-bit (x86) Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
An AMI is a virtual image that provides the information required to launch an instance. Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) instances are virtual servers on which you can run your applications and workloads, offering varying combinations of CPU, memory, storage, and networking resources. You can launch as many instances from as many different AMIs as you need.
Version release notes
S4 v1.2.1 GPU AMI. A self-contained Amazon Linux 2023 image with the GPU build of S4 (NVIDIA nvCOMP Bitcomp / zstd / GDeflate), the NVIDIA driver, and the container runtime preinstalled as a systemd service. Launch on a GPU instance (g4dn / g5 / g6), set your S3 endpoint in /etc/s4/s4.env, attach an IAM instance profile granting access to your bucket, and point your S3 clients at the gateway. Transparent per-object compression cuts S3 storage bytes 50-80 percent for compressible data with zero application changes; includes pre-deployment savings estimation (s4 estimate), retro-compression (s4 migrate), policy-driven maintenance (s4 maintain), and measured-savings reporting (s4 savings) with Prometheus metrics and a Grafana dashboard.
Additional details
Usage instructions
- Launch this AMI on a GPU instance (g4dn / g5 / g6 / g6e). Attach an IAM instance profile that grants access to your S3 bucket (the gateway uses the instance role for AWS credentials).
- Allow inbound TCP 8014 only from the clients that will use the S3-compatible endpoint; do not expose it to the public internet.
- Set your S3 backend in /etc/s4/s4.env: S4_ENDPOINT_URL=https://s3 .<your-region>.amazonaws.com (S4_PORT defaults to 8014).
- Start (or restart) the service: sudo systemctl restart s4 (it is enabled to start on boot).
- Point your S3 clients (boto3, aws-sdk, Spark, Trino, DuckDB) at http://<instance>:8014 . No application code changes are required. GPU codecs (NVIDIA nvCOMP) are used automatically for integer and columnar data. Verify GPU: nvidia-smi . Logs: journalctl -u s4 -f . Full docs: /opt/s4/README.md and https://github.com/abyo-software/s4#readme
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Support
Vendor support
Community support is available through GitHub issues at https://github.com/abyo-software/s4/issues . Marketplace subscribers can email aws-support@abyo.net for best-effort response within 2 business days. Documentation, an operations runbook, and a threat model are included in the repository.
AWS infrastructure support
AWS Support is a one-on-one, fast-response support channel that is staffed 24x7x365 with experienced and technical support engineers. The service helps customers of all sizes and technical abilities to successfully utilize the products and features provided by Amazon Web Services.
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