- GeneralPurpose.8xlarge offers 32 virtual cores and 128 GB of memory plus 275 GB of storage
- This is much cheaper than Azure or Google Cloud, but more expensive than on-premises if you plan to keep it for 6 months or more.
- Of course, you’ll need a separate computer to access that virtual workstation.
AWS has expanded its WorkSpaces desktop-as-a-service offering with the introduction of two new workstation-level instance types.
The company says these new instances will provide its customers with powerful cloud desktops for resource-intensive Windows workloads.
The new instance types, GeneralPurpose.4xlarge and GeneralPurpose.8xlarge, have 16 and 32 virtual CPUs (vCPUs) with 64 GB and 128 GB of memory, respectively. Both include a 175GB root volume and 100GB for user file storage.
Windows only
Amazon is positioning the two new offerings as ideal for developers, scientists, financial analysts and engineers who need to run demanding applications.
“Developers can handle large build and development tasks with tools like Visual Studio, IntelliJ, and Eclipse, while engineers and scientists can run complex simulations with MatLab, GNU Octave, R, and Stata,” the company says.
The GeneralPurpose.8xlarge instance is the first from AWS to offer 32 vCPUs, but it doesn’t come cheap. With the Windows license, the 32 vCPU version costs $590 per month, while the 16 vCPU model is priced at $295 per month. Hourly rates of $4.56 and $2.28 are also available for an additional $19 monthly fee.
Three doesn’t mention pricing for Linux users, so it looks like this is a Windows-only deal for now. Users with their own Windows licenses (BYOL) can save a small amount: the 32 vCPU version drops to $544 ($4.40 per hour) while the 16 vCPU model costs $272 ($2.20 per hour).
Although AWS’s 32-core virtual workstation offers competitive hourly rates compared to Azure and Google Cloud, it is still more expensive than on-premises options for long-term use. Additionally, users will obviously still need a separate device to access these cloud desktops.
In parallel with this announcement, AWS also introduced updates to its EC2 Image Builder, allowing you to convert Microsoft Windows ISO files directly to Amazon Machine Images (AMI), simplifying the process of using existing Windows licenses with Amazon WorkSpaces.
