Amazon Workspaces is an AWS-managed fully persistent virtual desktop service that provides cloud-based Windows or Ubuntu desktops. It is part of the AWS-End-User-Computing portfolio and is designed for knowledge workers who need a complete desktop environment.
Key Characteristics
Feature
Description
Persistence
Fully persistent — application states and user settings persist between sessions
Instance model
One-to-one instance management
OS support
Ubuntu and Windows
Protocol
WSP (Workspaces Streaming Protocol) — designed for high-latency networks
Deployment
Deployed from bundles; users can install applications with appropriate permissions
Network
Each workspace has two network interfaces (service VPC managed by AWS + customer VPC)
Cost control
Auto-stop feature to reduce idle costs
Use Cases
Knowledge workers needing full desktop environment
Hybrid workforces
BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) users
Developers
Compute-intensive workloads
Security Features
Active Directory integration
Encryption
IAM profiles
Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
Device certificates
VPC Interface Endpoints for private connectivity
Disaster Recovery
Build out workspaces in another AWS region for cross-region DR
