Amazon WorkSpaces is a managed, secure cloud desktop service. You can use Amazon WorkSpaces to provision either Windows or Linux desktops in just a few minutes and quickly scale to provide thousands of desktops to workers across the globe. You can pay either monthly or hourly, just for the WorkSpaces you launch, which helps you save money when compared to traditional desktops and on-premises VDI solutions. Amazon WorkSpaces helps you eliminate the complexity in managing inventory, OS versions and patches, and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), which helps simplify your desktop delivery strategy. With Amazon WorkSpaces, your users get a fast, responsive desktop of their choice that they can access anywhere, anytime, from any supported device.

A user can connect to a WorkSpace from any supported device using the free Amazon WorkSpaces client application on supported devices including Windows and Mac computers, Chromebooks, iPads, Fire tablets, Android tablets, or using Chrome or Firefox web browsers. Users will connect using credentials set up by an administrator or using their existing Active Directory credentials if you’ve chosen to integrate your Amazon WorkSpaces with an existing Active Directory domain. Once the user is connected to a WorkSpace they can perform all the usual tasks they would do on a desktop computer.

A user needs to have an Amazon WorkSpace provisioned for them, and a broadband Internet connection. To use an Amazon WorkSpaces client application to access their WorkSpace, they will need a supported client device (PC, Mac, Linux, iPad, Kindle Fire, or Android tablet), and an Internet connection with TCP ports 443 & 4172, and UDP port 4172 open.

By default, users are configured as local administrators of their WorkSpaces. Administrators can change this setting and can restrict users’ ability to install applications with technology such as Group Policy.

To get started with Amazon WorkSpaces, you will need an AWS account. You can use this account to sign in to the AWS Management Console and you can then quickly provision Amazon WorkSpaces for yourself and any other users in your organization who might require one. To provision, an Amazon WorkSpace, first, select a user from your directory. Next, select an Amazon WorkSpaces bundle for the user. The Amazon WorkSpaces bundle specifies the resources you need, which desktop operating system you want to run, how much storage you want to use, and the software applications you want prepackaged. Finally, choose a running mode for their Amazon WorkSpace – pick AlwaysOn if you want to use monthly billing, or AutoStop if you want to use hourly billing. Once your WorkSpace is provisioned, the user will receive an email with instructions for connecting to their WorkSpace. You can use this same process to provision multiple WorkSpaces at the same time.

Amazon WorkSpaces offers Amazon Linux WorkSpaces built on Amazon Linux 2 LTS or Windows 10 desktop experiences. Windows 10 desktop experiences are powered by Windows Server 2016. If your organization is eligible to bring their own Windows Desktop licenses, you can run the Windows 10 Enterprise operating system on your Amazon WorkSpaces.