Cloud Infrastructure

Availability Zone

An availability zone is a cloud-provider-defined location designed as a distinct failure domain within a region. Its relationship to subnets and individual resources varies by provider, and cross-zone traffic may incur charges.

Also known as: AZ

Why it matters

Failure-domain placement affects resilience, available capacity, and network charges.

Practical example

Place runners and frequently accessed storage with zone placement and data-transfer pricing in mind.

Related terms

KVM
vCPU
Local SSD
Ephemeral Storage

Sources

docs.aws.amazon.com · concepts.html

Definition reviewed 2026-10-26.

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