What is Research and Engineering Studio on AWS?
Research and Engineering Studio (RES) is an AWS-supported, open source product that lets IT administrators provide a web portal for scientists and engineers to run technical computing workloads on AWS. Through the portal, users launch secure virtual desktops for scientific research, product design, engineering simulations, or data analysis, signing in with their existing corporate credentials to work on individual or collaborative projects.
Administrators create virtual collaboration spaces called projects for a specific set of users to access shared resources. They build their own software stacks using Amazon Machine Images (AMIs), let RES users launch Windows or Linux desktops, and connect project data through shared file systems. Built-in telemetry lets administrators monitor environment usage, and they can set budgets per project to prevent overconsumption of resources. Because RES is open source, the portal’s user experience can also be customized to fit your own needs.
Core Features
- Web portal for virtual desktops: Self-service portal where users launch Windows or Linux desktops using corporate credentials
- Projects as collaboration spaces: Access control over shared resources for defined user groups
- Custom software stacks: Deployment of individual application environments through your own Amazon Machine Images
- Shared file systems: Connect project data through shared file systems, optionally extended with Amazon FSx File Gateway or Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP
- Budget control: Set individual budgets per project for cost control
- Telemetry and troubleshooting: Built-in monitoring of environment usage for troubleshooting
- Active Directory integration: Authentication through Amazon Cognito with mapping of existing Active Directory users and groups
Typical Use Cases
Scientific research environments: Research institutions give scientists a central portal through RES for compute-intensive simulations and data analysis, without requiring them to have their own cloud expertise.
Product design and engineering simulation: Engineering teams use virtual desktops with CPU- or GPU-based EC2 instances for CAD applications and simulations, tailored to project-specific software stacks.
Collaborative project work without individual AWS accounts: Organizations give external or internal team members controlled AWS access through RES without setting up an individual AWS account for each person.
Budgeted research projects: Manage multiple projects with individual budgets and resource monitoring to keep costs per project transparent.
Benefits
- No additional charge for the product itself, only standard pricing for the AWS resources used
- Open source and therefore customizable to your own requirements
- Self-service portal reduces the need for individual cloud onboarding for end users
- Integration with existing Active Directory for seamless access management
- Available in numerous EU regions for data residency requirements
Integration with innFactory
As an AWS Reseller, innFactory supports you with Research and Engineering Studio on AWS: planning deployment in a suitable AWS Region, integrating with your existing Active Directory, building project-specific software stacks and shared file systems, and setting up budget controls per research project.
Typical Use Cases
Technical Specifications
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Research and Engineering Studio on AWS?
Per the documentation, Research and Engineering Studio (RES) is an AWS-supported, open source product that lets IT administrators provide a web portal for scientists and engineers to run technical computing workloads on AWS. Users launch secure virtual desktops for scientific research, product design, engineering simulations, or data analysis, signing in with their existing corporate credentials to work on individual or collaborative projects.
Is RES open source?
Yes. Per the documentation, RES is an open source product that you can install from the project's GitHub repository. Because the source code is open, the documentation notes that you can also customize the RES portal's user experience to fit your own needs.
What does Research and Engineering Studio on AWS cost?
Per the documentation, RES itself is available at no additional charge. You pay only for the AWS resources needed to run the applications, such as Amazon EC2 for the virtual desktops. Administrators can set individual budgets per project to prevent overconsumption of resources.
In which AWS Regions is RES available?
Per the documentation for release 2026.06, RES is supported in more than 20 AWS Regions, including several European regions such as Frankfurt, Ireland, London, Paris, Milan, and Stockholm, as well as Israel (Tel Aviv), the Middle East (UAE), South America (São Paulo), and AWS GovCloud (US-East) and (US-West). Because RES uses services that are not available in every region, the documentation notes that deployment must happen in a Region where all required services are available.
Note: All product information on this page has been compiled with care, but is provided without guarantee and may be outdated or incomplete. Cloud services evolve rapidly — features, pricing, SLAs, and availability change frequently. Authoritative and up-to-date information can only be found on the official product page of AWS (official documentation). This page does not represent an offer by AWS.