The requirement for region association of DX locations has been removed from the AWS Direct Connect SLA.

Introduction

The AWS Direct Connect SLA was updated on July 24, 2026. The requirement to include at least one DX location associated with the Endpoint's region has been removed from the Multi-Site SLA.

No announcement was found on official blogs or similar channels. Only the SLA page content and the Last Updated date have been updated. I learned of this update through Kikuchi's post.

The removal applies to both Multi-Site Non-Redundant Deployment (99.9%) and Multi-Site Redundant Deployment (99.99%). The requirement differences for Multi-Site Redundant (99.99%), which has the greater number of requirements, are as follows.

Multi-Site Non-Redundant (99.9%) requires a total of 2 or more Connections across 2 different locations, and the same single line has also been removed from this tier.

Verification Details

Differences Between Old and New SLA

I compared the current SLA page (Last Updated: July 24, 2026) with the old SLA page (Last Updated: May 19, 2022). Both reflect the content as of July 30, 2026, and I reviewed the definition text and the Minimum Configuration Requirements table.

Old SLA:

Multi-Site Redundant Deployment is a Deployment that comprises at least four Connections deployed across a minimum of two different Direct Connect locations, each of which is configured to access the same Endpoint, where no fewer than two Connections are deployed in each of the two Direct Connection locations, at least one of the Direct Connection locations is associated with the AWS Region in which the Endpoint is hosted, each Connection is on a unique AWS device, and, with respect to private Endpoints, the Endpoint is deployed in two or more Availability Zones.

New SLA:

Multi-Site Redundant Deployment is a Deployment that comprises at least four Connections deployed across a minimum of two different Direct Connect locations, each of which is configured to access the same Endpoint, where no fewer than two Connections are deployed in each of the two Direct Connection locations, each Connection is on a unique AWS device, and, with respect to private Endpoints, the Endpoint is deployed in two or more Availability Zones.

The removed clause is the following single item.

at least one of the Direct Connection locations is associated with the AWS Region in which the Endpoint is hosted

The same clause also appeared in the definition of Multi-Site Non-Redundant Deployment (99.9%), and it was removed from a total of 4 locations: 2 places in the definition text and 2 rows in the Minimum Configuration Requirements table. The associated region constraint has been eliminated for both the 2-connection and 4-connection configurations. All other requirements and values were identical between the old and new versions.

Note that the quotation above covers only the configuration condition portion of the definition text. The Enterprise Support and Well-Architected Review requirements are stated in a subsequent sentence of the definition text and in the requirements table.

Associated AWS Region of DX Locations

Looking at the 5 locations within Japan listed on the DX locations page, the associations were heavily skewed toward the Tokyo region (as of July 30, 2026).

Only Telehouse Osaka 2 is associated with the Osaka region, while Equinix OS1, located in Osaka, is associated with the Tokyo region. Note that the Associated AWS Region is merely the region by association, and other regions can still be reached via Direct Connect Gateway for private Endpoints or via Public VIF for public Endpoints.

Configurations Targeting 99.99% for the Osaka Region

The most significant impact is on configurations that place 2 Connections each at Tokyo and Osaka DX locations, targeting 99.99% for an Endpoint in the Osaka region (ap-northeast-3). The eligibility for each combination is as follows.

Since only one location is associated with the Osaka region, the old SLA only allowed "2 connections at Telehouse Osaka 2 + 2 connections at a Tokyo region-associated location." Even a geographically dispersed configuration of 2 connections at Tokyo's Equinix TY2 + 2 connections at Osaka's Equinix OS1 was not eligible for 99.99% against an Osaka region Endpoint.

The same judgment applies when targeting 99.9% (Multi-Site Non-Redundant) with a 2-connection configuration. A configuration of 1 connection at Equinix TY2 + 1 connection at Equinix OS1 was not eligible for an Osaka region Endpoint under the old SLA, but becomes eligible under the new SLA.

On the other hand, when the Endpoint is in the Tokyo region (ap-northeast-1), the situation differs. Of the 5 domestic locations, all 4 except Telehouse Osaka 2 are associated with the Tokyo region. Since choosing any 2 different locations will result in at least one being associated with the Tokyo region, this requirement was never a constraint when configuring with only domestic locations under the old SLA, and nothing changes with today's removal.

As noted in the exclusions section of the SLA page, the SLA only applies to Dedicated Connections owned by your own account. Hosted connections and hosted virtual interfaces through APN partners are not covered.

Examples in North America

Discrepancies between the associated region and physical location also occur in North America. According to the DX locations list, both Equinix DA2 (Dallas) and Equinix MI1 (Miami) are associated with US East (Virginia).

A configuration placing 2 connections each at these 2 locations was not eligible for a US East (Ohio) Endpoint under the old SLA, but becomes eligible under the new SLA if all other requirements are met.

Summary

The Associated AWS Region association requirement has been removed from the Multi-Site SLA, allowing greater flexibility in choosing DX locations. This is a welcome update that reduces the number of considerations and adjustments needed when planning DX connection deployments.

For those currently evaluating circuit selection and configurations for DX connections, reviewing the new SLA is recommended.