Elastic Desktop Service (EDS) Enterprise is a Desktop as a Service (DaaS) product from Alibaba Cloud. Built on the proprietary Adaptive Streaming Protocol (ASP), EDS centralizes computing and data in the cloud, delivering secure desktops without requiring you to manage underlying VMs, networking, or storage—unlike traditional PCs and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).
Use cases
EDS centralizes computing and data in the cloud, serving a range of business needs:
Remote work and secure access
Computing and data stay in the cloud—no business data touches local devices, preventing data leakage. Unified access policies provide granular control, delivering security that surpasses traditional VPNs.
Multiple branch offices
Administrators centrally create, distribute, and maintain desktop environments and applications from the console, enabling unified cross-region operations with lower on-site support costs.
Temporary or flexible staffing
Provision cloud computers on demand for short-term needs such as projects or internships—create or release desktops in minutes. Pay-as-you-go billing eliminates long-term hardware investment.
High-performance graphics processing
GPU instances support architectural design, film post-production, and industrial simulation. Users access cloud workstations from standard terminals for 3D modeling and rendering, eliminating expensive local hardware.
Core capabilities
Security and compliance
Data stays in the cloud: All computing and data storage remain in the cloud. Local devices handle only display and input.
Granular policies: Supports visible and invisible watermarks, screenshot and screen recording prevention, clipboard controls, and peripheral device restrictions.
Network isolation: Supports domain-based access rules and security groups for granular network access control.
Auditing and traceability: Operation logs are traceable and auditable for compliance.
Transmission encryption: ASP supports TLS-encrypted transmission based on the Tongsuo cryptographic library, protecting data in transit between cloud computers and terminals.
Performance and experience
Proprietary ASP: ASP is a high-performance protocol supporting TLS-encrypted transmission over both TCP and UDP. It adapts to network conditions, ensuring smooth performance even on weak connections.
Network bandwidth: Each cloud computer includes 5 Mbit/s of free internet bandwidth. Premium bandwidth plans are available for higher connection quality.
High data reliability: Data is stored on highly reliable cloud storage with snapshot-based backup and recovery.
AI inference capabilities: EDS supports lightweight AI inference workloads. It does not support high-concurrency scenarios such as million-level concurrent container scheduling. For high-concurrency AI deployment, we recommend using GPU servers instead.
Management and O&M
Centralized management: The EDS console and OpenAPI enable centralized management of cloud computers, images, templates, and enterprise applications.
Rapid delivery: One-click deployment with rapid creation, assignment, and release of cloud computers in minutes.
Scalability and cost
Flexible billing: Supports pay-as-you-go and subscription billing for both variable and predictable usage.
Automatic scaling: Automatically creates or releases cloud computers based on preset policies to handle traffic fluctuations and optimize costs.
Comparison with other products
Comparison with VDI and traditional PCs
Deployment mode | Data security | Cost | O&M | |
EDS | Fully managed cloud service, ready to use. | Data stored in the cloud on highly reliable storage. | No hardware investment required. Resources provisioned on demand with automatic scaling. | Centralized cloud management for simple and efficient O&M. |
VDI | Requires building, deploying, and maintaining an on-premises data center. | Data stored on the server side; security depends on the enterprise's own IT capabilities. | High upfront investment from large one-time hardware costs. | Centrally maintained, but operational complexity grows dramatically with scale. |
Traditional PC | Independent, distributed, and locally installed. | Data stored locally, prone to loss, leakage, and uncontrollable user behavior. | High hardware procurement costs and potential for idle resources. | Long delivery cycles. Upgrades and troubleshooting are difficult, leading to high maintenance costs. |
Comparison with Elastic Compute Service (ECS)
EDS and ECS both provide cloud computing resources but differ in positioning, use cases, and management.
Item | EDS | ECS |
Product concept | A DaaS solution providing a complete cloud desktop environment for end users. | An IaaS solution providing a general-purpose compute server with full administrative control. |
Core purpose | Designed for desktop use cases: remote work, secure office access, and graphics design. | Hosts websites, runs databases, performs big data analysis, trains AI models, and operates other server-side applications. |
Management model | End-user and administrator oriented. Users connect via a client; administrators use the console to centrally manage computer pools, users, and policies. | System administrator and developer oriented. Managed via SSH, RDP, or APIs for deep server-level configuration. |
Network access | Optimized for remote cloud computer connections. Inbound access is strictly controlled to ensure cloud computer security. | Provides fully customizable security group rules. Administrators can open ports and services as needed to serve external traffic. |
Website hosting | Cannot be used as a web server to host external websites. | Supported. This is one of its core use cases. |
Comparison between EDS Enterprise Edition and Personal Edition
EDS Enterprise Edition and Personal Edition are two independent product lines. They use separate account systems, network architectures, management capabilities, and operating systems — they are not interoperable or convertible.
Dimension | Enterprise Edition | Personal Edition |
Account system | Supports Resource Access Management (RAM) users, enterprise Active Directory (AD), and single sign-on via SAML 2.0. | Supports only SMS verification code or QR code login. |
Network capabilities | Supports fixed region assignment, fixed egress IP, intranet communication, and Cloud Enterprise Network (CEN) interconnection. | Supports only dynamic scheduling. No fixed IP or intranet communication. |
Management capabilities | Supports bulk creation, policy control, image distribution, and audit logging. | Supports only basic self-service operations. |
Operating systems | Supports Windows 10/11 Pro and Linux distributions. | Supports only Windows Server 2022. |
Applicable scenarios | Team collaboration, security and compliance, cross-border e-commerce (requires overseas regions), fixed IP business needs. | Lightweight personal office or entertainment use within mainland China. Does not support specifying regions or fixed IPs. |
If you need features such as fixed region IP, intranet communication, bulk management, or RAM user integration, you must use the Enterprise Edition.
Cloud computer specifications
Category | Description |
Instance family | EDS offers multiple instance families for different workloads:
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Operating system | Supports Windows 11 Pro, Windows 10 Pro, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022, Ubuntu 22.04, and Kylin V10. Limitation: Creating cloud computers with the Kylin V10 operating system is not supported in regions outside the Chinese mainland. macOS support: EDS (including both Enterprise and Personal Editions) does not support Apple macOS systems. If you require macOS, note that Alibaba Cloud cloud computers (EDS) and ECS instances do not currently provide macOS operating systems. Available operating systems include Windows, Ubuntu, and Kylin V10. |
Network access | EDS allows all outbound traffic by default while strictly limiting inbound traffic.
|
Account system | Supports convenience accounts, enterprise Active Directory (AD) accounts, and SSO integration with identity providers via SAML 2.0. |
Billing
EDS billing includes basic resources and value-added services. For more billing details, see Billing overview.
Basic resources
Compute resources: vCPUs, memory, and GPUs.
Storage resources: system disks and data disks.
Value-added services
Internet bandwidth: Basic bandwidth (free), premium bandwidth, and data transfer plans.
Enterprise storage: File Storage NAS file systems for sharing files across multiple cloud computers.
Network interconnection: Connect to an on-premises data center (IDC) or VPC through Cloud Enterprise Network (CEN).
Identity federation: Integrate with your existing AD by using AD Connector.
Auditing and collaboration: Simple Log Service, screen recording audit, and stream collaboration.
Others: Paid applications from the marketplace, snapshots and backups, cloud browsers, and more.
FAQ
Does EDS support nested virtualization?
EDS does not support nested virtualization such as Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware ESXi, or Citrix Xen.
What operating systems does EDS support?
EDS currently supports the following operating systems:
Windows Server 2022
Windows Server 2019
Windows 11 Pro
Windows 10 Pro
Ubuntu 22.04
Kylin V10
What is the difference between EDS and AgentBay?
EDS (Elastic Desktop Service) is a cloud desktop service that provides virtualized desktop environments for end users. Alibaba Cloud AgentBay is an independent AI agent development suite that uses a pay-as-you-go billing model and is billed separately from the cloud desktop service. AgentBay is not a cloud desktop service — it is designed for building and deploying AI agents.
Does EDS support stream collaboration?
Stream collaboration is an Enterprise Edition-only feature. The Personal Edition does not support it. Note that multi-user file conflict handling depends on the application software's own mechanisms — EDS does not provide additional conflict management features for shared files.
Can I directly upgrade, convert, or switch from EDS Personal Edition to Enterprise Edition?
Personal Edition and Enterprise Edition are two independent product lines. They have separate account systems, management approaches, and feature sets. They are not interoperable, and direct upgrades, price-difference conversions, or version switches are not supported.
To use Enterprise Edition features (such as fixed region IP, intranet communication, bulk management, or RAM user integration), you need to purchase Enterprise Edition instances separately.
Data migration: If you need to retain your Personal Edition data and configuration, you must purchase an Enterprise Edition instance with the same configuration and then use data migration tools to transfer your data from Personal Edition to the new Enterprise Edition instance. Note that changing images or switching the operating system will clear your data.
How do I log in to EDS Personal Edition vs Enterprise Edition? What if I cannot find my instance in the console?
Edition distinction and login methods:
Personal Edition: Log in via the Wuying client, Alipay mini program, or WeChat mini program. Supports only SMS verification code or QR code login. Password login is not supported.
Enterprise Edition: Log in via the Wuying client or the Enterprise Edition console (https://eds.console.aliyun.com/). Supports organization ID + phone number verification.
Console entry:
Enterprise Edition instances must be viewed in the EDS Enterprise Edition console. They cannot be found in the ECS console.
Personal Edition instances do not appear in the Alibaba Cloud Management Console.
"Trial Edition" issue: If you see "Trial Edition" after logging in, this is typically because you did not log in through the correct Enterprise Edition entry point or your account is not associated with resources. Confirm that you are using the Wuying client and logging in via organization ID verification.
Password modification: For Personal Edition, the logon password is your Alibaba Cloud account password, which can be modified in the Alibaba Cloud Account Center. The cloud computer internal system password should be changed within the desktop using standard OS procedures.
Does EDS support running games or installing specific software (such as Cyberpunk 2077, MapleStory, Codex, or Microsoft Store)?
General rule: EDS does not restrict regular software or games except for virtualization software (such as Hyper-V or VMware) and emulators. Whether a game or application can run depends on its compatibility with the operating system and virtualization environment.
Personal Edition limitations: Personal Edition provides only Windows Server 2022 images. It does not include Microsoft Store by default and does not support the Windows 10 environment. Therefore, software that depends on Windows 10 or Microsoft Store (such as Codex) cannot be installed. The C drive capacity is fixed at 60 GB — we recommend installing games on the D drive.
Enterprise Edition: Enterprise Edition supports Windows 10/11 Pro and can install Microsoft Store and various games/software normally. For high-load gaming, we recommend selecting a graphics workstation or esports mode specification.
Pre-installed software: EDS images do not come pre-installed with third-party games (such as Cyberpunk 2077). You need to download and install them yourself after connecting to the cloud desktop.
Next steps
Learn about the basic concepts of EDS.
Review the product architecture to understand the EDS workflow and network structure.
When you are ready to try EDS, refer to the Administrator quickstart guide to create a cloud computer.