Inside Amazon Web Services' plan to make networking disappear
AWS engineers in Cupertino are working to make network infrastructure seamless and invisible to users. Their goal is for networks to function reliably without requiring attention, similar to a light switch. This effort responds to long-standing scalability and innovation challenges in traditional networking models.
- ▪AWS has a networking lab in Cupertino, California, where engineers develop next-generation network infrastructure.
- ▪Matt Rehder, VP of core networking at AWS, compares ideal network performance to a light switch that just works.
- ▪James Hamilton, SVP and distinguished engineer at Amazon, criticized traditional vertically integrated networking stacks for stifling innovation.
- ▪Hamilton advocated for a server-like business model in networking with more competition and open source software.
- ▪AWS has been rethinking networking since at least 2010 due to scalability challenges in cloud data centers.
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Networks Inside Amazon Web Services' plan to make networking disappear The Register gets a look inside AWS' networking lab in Cupertino Thomas Claburn Mon 4 May 2026 // 15:39 UTC FEATURE In an unassuming three-story office building in Cupertino, California, engineers from Amazon Web Services are busy trying to make networking inconspicuous. They work in windowless hardware development labs at the center of the structure, surrounded by a ring of office cubicles that afford a view of scarce parking spaces and perimeter tree cover. Their latest project, which The Register and several other publications agreed not to discuss in advance of the pending official announcement, may get some attention. But their networking ambition differs from the promotional goals of the AWS communications team.
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