Understanding Amazon DCV Servers
Amazon DCV is installed on a dedicated server that creates user sessions. The Amazon DCV server software is available for Windows, Linux, and Amazon EC2 Mac instances. The servers offer similar features, but there are some differences. Choose the Amazon DCV server that best meets your needs. The following table compares the features supported by the Windows, Linux, and macOS Amazon DCV servers.
Requirements
For a good user experience with Amazon DCV, ensure that your server meets the following minimum requirements. Keep in mind that your users' experience is largely dependent on the number of pixels streamed from the Amazon DCV server to the Amazon DCV client.
If you are installing the Amazon DCV server on an Amazon EC2 instance, we recommend that you use an Amazon EC2
G3, G4dn, G4ad, G5, or G6 instance type. These instance types offer GPUs that support
hardware-based OpenGL and GPU sharing. For more information, see Amazon EC2 G3
Instances
You can install the Amazon DCV server on any other instance type, but
there might be screen resolution limitations. To bypass this limitation on Windows Server 2016, download and install the
Amazon DCV Virtual Display Driver for EC2
Your server must meet the minimum requirements listed in the following table.
| Windows server | Linux server | macOS server | |
|---|---|---|---|
Operating system |
NoteAll supported Windows operating systems require .NET Framework 4.5 and must support the x86-64 architecture. |
|
|
Supported architecture |
64-bit x86 |
|
64-bit ARM (DCV server is supported only on Amazon EC2 Apple silicon instances) |
GPU |
(Optional) An NVIDIA or AMD GPU is required for hardware-based video encoding. If your server does not have a GPU, software-based video encoding is used. Note
|
Amazon EC2 Apple silicon instances support hardware-based video encoding. |
|
|
An NVIDIA GPU is required for GPU sharing across virtual sessions. NoteOnly console sessions are supported on Linux servers with AMD GPUs. |
|||
Network |
By default, the Amazon DCV server communicates over port 8443. The port is configurable but must be greater than 1024. Ensure that the server allows communication over the required port. |
||
Note
If you are running an operating system that has reached end of life, such as CentOS 7 or RHEL 7, Amazon DCV still offers support until the End of Life of that supported DCV version. Amazon DCV does not support operating systems that have reached end of life. Contact your vendor regarding your operating system.
For more information about the Amazon DCV Client requirements, see Amazon DCV Client requirements in the Amazon DCV User Guide.
Supported Features
The following table compares the features that are supported by the Windows, Linux, and macOS Amazon DCV servers.
Feature |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | |
Webcam support |
✓ (Windows 10 and Server 2016 and later) | ✗ | ✗ |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ✓ (up to 7.1) | ✓ (up to 5.1) | ✗ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | |
| ✓ (Windows 10 and Server 2016 and later) | ✓ | ✗ | |
| ✓ (Windows 10 and Server 2019) | ✓ | ✗ | |
| ✓ (Windows 10 and Server 2016 and later) | ✗ | ✗ | |
Full screen selected monitors |
✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
Time zone redirection |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
WebAuthn redirection |
✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
Extensions SDK |
✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
For more information about the Amazon DCV Client features, see Amazon DCV Client features in the Amazon DCV User Guide.
