Amazon Web Services turned on two workstation-grade cloud computers that, ironically highlight a problem in the technology.
The cloud giant’s desktop-as-a-service offering is called “WorkSpaces” and on Wednesday two new instance types were annoucned: the GeneralPurpose.4xlarge with 16vCPUs and 64GB of memory, and the GeneralPurpose.8xlarge which packs 32vCPUs and 128 GB RAM. Both include a virtual disk of 175GB that contains the OS image, and 100GB for user files.
These instance types are described as being suitable for applications that are typically run on workstation class PCs. The engineering data-analysis software Matlab, statistical analysis package R and large software compilation jobs are all mentioned as suitable workloads.
The GeneralPurpose.8xlarge instance type is Amazon’s first to offer 32 vCPUs.
Windows is not included in the price of $590 per month and $295 for a 16 vCPU instance. After paying $19/month, you can get hourly prices of $4.56 or $2.28 per hour. Prices are lower when you bring your Windows license, but only by a few percent. It appears that this is a Windows-only deal for now. No pricing is listed for instance types running Linux distributions on other WorkSpaces. Microsoft brings its cloudy virtual desks to AzureStack HCI.
These two instance types join Power and PowerPro, which have dedicated video memory, as Amazon’s recommended options for those who desire “the best video conferencing experience”. Cloudy desktops are fast, but they can struggle with applications like video conferencing which require uninterrupted realtime data flow. Microsoft acknowledges that its Teams collaboration software can’t deliver an “optimized video and audio chat” on cloudy desktops. It also offers a version of the software tailored for cloud PCs. The company suggests rerouting video and voice calls to a local device that is used to access cloudy computers.
Amazon’s solution seems to be to just throw more computing resources at the problem. Its advice is that only its most powerful WorkSpaces can deliver “the best” video chats.
Amazon is not just about brute-force with its cloudy desktops. Earlier this week, it announced changes to its Amazon EC2 ImageBuilder that allow direct conversion from Microsoft Windows ISO files into Amazon Machine Images. This is the virtual appliance format for AWS used to boot a VM.
Organizations with large Windows desktop fleets tend to maintain a “golden image” of their preferred PC configuration. Amazon claims that this arrangement will make it easier for users to bring their own license. Cloudy PCs will be more consistent, with existing PC management software and processes being used. (r)