Posted On: Jul 25, 2017
Today, Amazon AppStream 2.0 is introducing Graphics Desktop and Graphics Pro instance families to deliver high performance graphics applications from AWS. These new graphics instance families allow you to stream powerful graphics applications to a web browser on any desktop, eliminating the need for expensive and bulky workstations. Applications are delivered remotely using NICE DCV, a secure hi-fidelity streaming protocol that is specially tuned for graphics workloads. Since graphics applications can now be run next to data that is stored on AWS, designers, engineers, and analysts using AppStream 2.0 can benefit from a high quality, low latency visualization experience for their 2D and 3D workloads. AppStream 2.0 provides secure, anywhere, anytime access, so your users can use the software and data they need to be productive, wherever there is a web connection. In addition, software developers can move their desktop applications to the cloud without rewriting code, creating new distribution channels and subscription services.
The Graphics Desktop instance family offers a single instance type with an NVIDIA GPU based on K520 with 1,536 CUDA cores, 8 vCPUs, 15 GiB system memory, and 4 GiB graphics memory. This instance type is ideal for running desktop graphics applications such as Siemens NX, SolidWorks, ESRI ArcGIS, and other applications that use DirectX, OpenGL, OpenCL, and CUDA. The Graphics Desktop family is a powerful yet economical choice, with pricing that starts at tens-of-cents per hour.
The Graphics Pro instance family offers three different instance types to support the most demanding graphics applications. Powered by NVIDIA Tesla M60 GPUs with 2048 parallel processing cores, there are three Graphics Pro instances types starting from 16 vCPUs, 122 GiB system memory, and 8 GiB graphics memory, to 64 vCPUs, 488 GiB system memory, and 32 GiB graphics memory. These instance types are ideal for graphic workloads that need a massive amount of parallel processing power for 3D rendering, visualization, and video encoding, including applications such as Petrel from Schlumberger Software, Landmark's DecisionSpace, or MotionDSP's Ikena.
You can select an AppStream 2.0 Graphics Desktop or Graphics Pro instance when launching an image builder instance or creating a fleet from the AWS management console, or using the AWS SDK. When you select a graphics instance for your image builder, you can install your applications, verify performance on the instance type and size you selected, and fine tune your applications to optimize the user experience. You can then create your fleet using the instance size you need to meet your application performance requirements.
The AppStream 2.0 Graphics Desktop and Graphics Pro instance families are available today in all AWS Regions where AppStream 2.0 is offered. AppStream 2.0 offers pay-as-you-go pricing, please see Amazon AppStream 2.0 Pricing for more information. If you are new to AppStream 2.0, you can try already-installed applications by visiting the AppStream 2.0 website.