U.S. Particle Accelerator School
U.S. Particle Accelerator School
America's National School of Accelerator Science and Technology

USPAS Computing Resources


Virtual Desktops via Amazon WorkSpaces

A virtual, cloud-based desktop (known as a WorkSpace) can be provided as a common framework to allow computer simulations and exercises to be carried out during the course. This provides a standardized environment of software configuration for all students and instructors, while also relieving the need to install large, complex, and/or licensed software on users’ personal laptops. WorkSpaces are available in Windows and Linux, and are accessed over the Internet via a small client app that is installed on the user’s laptop.


Operating System: Windows 10

Amazon Linux 2 (RedHat/CentOS based)
or
Ubuntu 22.04

Standard Specs:
(additional resources
available upon request)
4 vCPU
16Gb RAM
80Gb Root Volume, 50Gb User Volume
4 vCPU
16Gb RAM
80Gb Root Volume, 50Gb User Volume
Free software available upon request: ABCI
Astra
FEMM
gnuplot
LibreOffice (OpenSource MS Office Suite alternative)
LTspiceXVII
madx
Matlab (30-day free trial)
Ghostscript/view
Miniforge (python)
MolFlow
OptiMX
Poisson Superfish
Qucs
R-Project
None
Licensed Software:
(Contact uspas@fnal.gov to have
any of these or additional software
activated.
Note: Icons may be present on
desktop even when not activated.)
CST Microwave Studio
IDL VM
QuickField
Simion
None
Additional Software: Individual accounts have administrator privileges under windows or linux AWS. So you are free to download and install any additional software needed.


Notes:
  • Python tools including Jupyter notebooks, numpy, scipy, matplotlib, etc are commonly employed in many USPAS classes. These tools are provided under AWS Windows via mini-forge which provides the standard (OpenSource) conda utility used to install a wide variety of OpenSource Python tools. For most purposes, miniforge should be equivalent to miniconda and can be thought of as free versions of Anaconda (paid software with some extensions) that also includes the conda (OpenSource) installer.

  • MS Office is not provided under our standard AWS Windows distribution since it is licensed software. Many students should have access to versions on their personal laptops, but it cannot be guaranteed. AWS Windows provides LibreOffice OpenSource equivalents for MS Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. Free GoogleOffice cloud equivalents can also be employed and accessed via a browser interface. It is strongly recommended to test all software equivalents for MS Office applications.

  • AWS Linux is provided without installs since it tends to be used by those classes more specifically tuned software requirements and Linux has extensive package managers that are well-integrated with OpenSource software (including Python tools via mini-forge or other pathways).


  • [SAMPLE Windows 10 Desktop]
    Cloud PC Desktop