![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/30cad3_ee6b77216c9b4057b9d593eaa13b53f6~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_49,h_28,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/30cad3_ee6b77216c9b4057b9d593eaa13b53f6~mv2.png)
Here’s a quick tip I found – use a persistent spot windows server instance on AWS with OneDrive. This sped up my development time and workflow considerably!
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/30cad3_f682e428339e4882903e6e0fdfcc3aff~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_51,h_34,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/30cad3_f682e428339e4882903e6e0fdfcc3aff~mv2.png)
If you are new to AWS I recommend this Medium blog post by Tim Fogarty for a start. Getting started with AWS. https://medium.com/tfogo/getting-started-with-aws-d7c51133fc92.
Here is the base architecture we will be installing our applications from:
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/30cad3_acc28924d5a14a4cae019620d4c73905~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_92,h_52,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/30cad3_acc28924d5a14a4cae019620d4c73905~mv2.jpeg)
The key things we need for this configuration and setup are:
1. Persistent Spot EC2 Instance (to reduce costs)
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/30cad3_91384b8f1dd74bee84a622064a24e6e7~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_49,h_26,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/30cad3_91384b8f1dd74bee84a622064a24e6e7~mv2.png)
2. AMI type: Windows_Server-2019-English-Full-Base-2021.06.09
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/30cad3_6793943212b640739c66ac1b97d7428a~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_49,h_26,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/30cad3_6793943212b640739c66ac1b97d7428a~mv2.png)
3. Static Elastic IP: https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/knowledge-center/ec2-associate-static-public-ip/
4. Security Group: Open ports 22 and 3389
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/30cad3_3f041a7f0e9e4501a0bd22826897dcdb~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_49,h_26,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/30cad3_3f041a7f0e9e4501a0bd22826897dcdb~mv2.png)
5. Remote Desktop Connection: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/WindowsGuide/connecting_to_windows_instance.html
Once connected to your instance, you can now install and configure your applications: OneDrive, PowerBI Desktop, R/RStudio, Node, and PowerShell (for custom R visuals)
After installation, I saved my remote desktop connection file (.rdp) to OneDrive so I could access this instance on any device I was working on.
In the comments section - Please let me know how this works for you or any other tips you found to reduce your development time.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/099e36_8825e323c0c543e39942f1dc953c25ba~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_63,h_63,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/099e36_8825e323c0c543e39942f1dc953c25ba~mv2.png)
Jerome is a Senior Operations Research Analyst here at CANA. You can contact Jerome at jdixon@canallc.com.