# Overview
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**Important**  
This User Guide covers the current release (2026.03) of Research and Engineering Studio on AWS. For previous versions, see the [Archive of Previous Versions](previous-versions.md).

Research and Engineering Studio (RES) is an AWS supported, open source product that enables IT administrators to provide a web portal for scientists and engineers to run technical computing workloads on AWS. RES provides a unified portal for users to launch secure virtual desktops to conduct scientific research, product design, engineering simulations, or data analysis workloads. Users can connect to the RES portal using their existing corporate credentials and work on individual or collaborative projects. 

Administrators can create virtual collaboration spaces called projects for a specific set of users to access shared resources and collaborate. Administrators can build their own application software stacks (using [Amazon Machine Images](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/AMIs.html) or AMIs) and allow RES users to launch Windows or Linux virtual desktops, and enable access to project data through shared file systems. Administrators can assign software stacks and file systems and restrict access to only those project users. Administrators can use built-in telemetry to monitor the environment usage and troubleshoot user issues. They can also set budgets for individual projects to prevent overconsumption of resources. As the product is open source, you can also customize the user experience of the RES portal to suit your own needs. 

RES is available at no additional charge, and you pay only for the AWS resources needed to run your applications.

 This guide provides an overview of Research and Engineering Studio on AWS, its reference architecture and components, considerations for planning the deployment, and configuration steps for deploying RES to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud. 

# Features and benefits
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Research and Engineering Studio on AWS provides the following features: 

**Web-based user interface **  
RES provides a web-based portal that administrators, researchers, and engineers can use to access and manage their research and engineering workspaces. Scientists and engineers do not need to have an AWS account or cloud expertise to use RES. 

**Project-based configuration**  
Use projects to define access permissions, allocate resources, and manage budgets for a set of tasks or activities. Assign specific software stacks (operating systems and approved applications) and storage resources to a project for consistency and compliance. Monitor and manage spending on a per-project basis.

**Collaboration tools**  
Scientists and engineers can invite other members of their project to collaborate with them, setting the permissions levels they want those colleagues to have. Invited members can sign in to RES to connect to the shared desktops. 

**Integration with existing identity management infrastructure**  
Integrate with your existing identity management and directory services infrastructure to enable connection to the RES portal with a user's existing corporate identity and assign permissions to projects using existing user and group memberships.

**Persistent storage and access to shared data**  
To provide users access to shared data across virtual desktop sessions, connect to your existing file systems within RES. Supported storage services include Amazon Elastic File System for Linux desktops and Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP for Windows and Linux desktops.

**Monitoring and reporting**  
Use the analytics dashboard to monitor resource usage for instance types, software stacks, and operating system types. The dashboard also provides a breakdown of resource usage by projects for reporting. 

**Budget and cost management**  
Link AWS Budgets to your RES projects to monitor costs for each project. If you exceed your budget, you can limit the launch of VDI sessions.

# Concepts and definitions
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This section describes key concepts and defines terminology specific to Research and Engineering Studio on AWS:

**File browser**  
A file browser is a part of the RES user interface where users who are currently logged in can view their file system.

**File system**  
The file system acts as a container for project data (often referred to as datasets). It provides a storage solution within a project's boundaries and improves collaboration and data access control.

**Global administrator**  
An administrative delegate with access to RES resources that are shared across a RES environment. Scope and permissions span multiple projects. They can create or modify projects and assign project owners. They can delegate or assign permissions to project owners and project members. Sometimes the same person acts as the RES administrator depending on the size of the organization.

**Project**  
A project is a logical partition within the application that serves as a distinct boundary for data and compute resources. This ensures governance over data flow and prevents sharing data and VDI hosts across projects.

**Project-based permissions**  
Project-based permissions describes a logical partition of both data and VDI hosts in a system where multiple projects can exist. A user's access to data and VDI hosts within a project is determined by their associated roles. A user must be assigned access (or project membership) for each project to which they require access. Otherwise, a user is unable to access project data and VDIs when they have not been granted membership.

**Project member**  
An end user of RES resources (VDI, storage, etc). Scope and permissions are restricted to the projects they are assigned to. They cannot delegate or assign any permissions.

**Project owner**  
An administrative delegate with access to, and ownership over, a specific project. Scope and permissions are restricted to the projects they own. They can assign permissions to project members in the projects they own.

**Software stack**  
Software stacks are [ Amazon Machine Images (AMIs)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/AMIs.html) with RES-specific metadata based on any operating system a user has selected to provision for their VDI host.

**VDI hosts**  
Virtual desktop instance (VDI) hosts allow project members to access project-specific data and compute environments, ensuring secure and isolated workspaces.

For a general reference of AWS terms, see the [AWS Glossary](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/glossary/latest/reference/glos-chap.html).