Amazon unveils Parallel Stack Creation and Nested Stack Updates to AWS
Two updated features to help developers create and manage resources in the cloud

Amazon has launched two updated features to its AWS CloudFormation service that the company claims will give developers an easier way of managing and provisioning AWS resources.
It has updated its Parallel Stack Processing feature to allow its CloudFormation service to create, update and delete resources in parallel in order to improve performance of these operations.
The firm gave an example where provisioning a RAID 0 setup, which involves the creation of multiple EBS volumes, would now be faster because CloudFormation can provision the volumes in parallel.
With the update, CloudFormation will automatically determine which resources in a template can be created in parallel. CloudFormation template authors can use the DependsOn attribute for control over the order of resource creation.
Additionally, CloudFormation now allows developers to nest a stack as a resource inside a template. This feature has enabled design and creation of related stacks together.
“Today, we are introducing the ability to update a top-level stack and nested stacks together,” said Chetan Dandekar, senior product manager at AWS.
“Nested stack updates can be triggered by running the UpdateStack command on a top-level stack, or by selecting the top-level stack and clicking 'Update Stack' in theCloudFormation Management Console.”
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
This will detect the updates made to the top-level template as well as to the nested templates and update only those stacks whose templates have changed. Before introduction of this feature, users had to update each nested stack separately.
“With the introduction of nested stack updates, we can update the top level stack, the web tier stack, and the app tier stack together and in the correct order,” said Dandakar. “The stack for the database tier, which has no changes, would not be updated. Before introduction of nested stack updates, we would have had to update each of the nested stacks individually.”
AWS has made available a collection of sample templates to allow developers to try out the service.
ITPro is a global business technology website providing the latest news, analysis, and business insight for IT decision-makers. Whether it's cyber security, cloud computing, IT infrastructure, or business strategy, we aim to equip leaders with the data they need to make informed IT investments.
For regular updates delivered to your inbox and social feeds, be sure to sign up to our daily newsletter and follow on us LinkedIn and Twitter.
-
Why keeping track of AI assistants can be a tricky business
Column Making the most of AI assistants means understanding what they can do – and what the workforce wants from them
By Stephen Pritchard
-
Nvidia braces for a $5.5 billion hit as tariffs reach the semiconductor industry
News The chipmaker says its H20 chips need a special license as its share price plummets
By Bobby Hellard