Ansys Opens a Gateway to AWS Cloud

Easy access to Ansys tools is now available to AWS users.

Disclosure: Shawn Wasserman is a former employee of Ansys Inc. who owns minor Ansys company stock.

Ansys has given its users more control over where and how to run its software on the Cloud by releasing Ansys Gateway powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). The new access point to Ansys technology is available on the AWS Marketplace and enables users to easily access, subscribe and configure applications from one location. In other words, users will be able to use various Ansys products from a single workspace within AWS.

On-demand access to Ansys applications on AWS HPC resources. (Image courtesy of Ansys.)

On-demand access to Ansys applications on AWS HPC resources. (Image courtesy of Ansys.)

“Working together with the company, we are excited about the launch of Ansys Gateway powered by AWS,” said Bill Vass, vice president of engineering at AWS. “Now, customers can access and deploy Ansys’ portfolio through AWS, helping customers remove barriers to scale globally, perform more simulations and innovate faster.”

Ansys Gateway enables on-demand access to Ansys tools and AWS high-performance computing (HPC) resources. The aim is to democratize the access to high-end simulations for small-to-medium businesses that may not be able to afford the upfront costs of on-premise hardware. Instead, the companies can pay for what they use when they use it. In this case, engineers can manage CAD/CAE on the AWS cloud while benefiting from the scalable costing, hardware and compute resources.

To that point, Ansys promises that users will have access to seamless support for its applications and other third-party CAE/CAD tools. “With control over their hybrid architecture, customers can bring their own licenses to Ansys Gateway powered by AWS and easily manage user access, permissions, data and security,” said Ansys in a press release.

Shane Emswiler, senior vice president of products at Ansys, clarified, “Our goal at Ansys has always been to make simulation accessible to as many startups, students and businesses – large and small – as possible. Providing easy, affordable access to Ansys’ solutions makes greater innovation and efficiency possible for all of our customers. By working with AWS, we are able to allow broader access to HPC by bringing down the traditional hardware barriers that have limited innovation for many of our customers.”

What Engineers Need to Pay Attention To

This is far from Ansys’ first dip into making its tools available to cloud resources. In fact, Ansys Cloud Direct offers users easy access to Microsoft Azure HPC resources directly within the Ansys environment.

What is different here is a flip of the script. Now users have easy access to Ansys tools that have been made available to those that are on the AWS system. Even without access to Ansys from the start, those with AWS access can go to the marketplace and quickly get set up with simulation tools—once they get their Ansys licenses sorted out.

“We were surprised by how easy and seamless it is to switch from our internal cluster to the cloud with Ansys Gateway powered by AWS,” said Steve Collie, aerodynamics coordinator at Emirates Team New Zealand. “We can quickly set up a workstation or cluster and select the best hardware. We can replace our hardware every day if we want, instead of replacing physical resources every four years. It’s fast and intuitive to switch back and forth from cluster to cloud as our needs change.”

In other words, for those AWS users interested in starting to use Ansys technology, this is an easy way to access and implement those tools.

Written by

Shawn Wasserman

For over 10 years, Shawn Wasserman has informed, inspired and engaged the engineering community through online content. As a senior writer at WTWH media, he produces branded content to help engineers streamline their operations via new tools, technologies and software. While a senior editor at Engineering.com, Shawn wrote stories about CAE, simulation, PLM, CAD, IoT, AI and more. During his time as the blog manager at Ansys, Shawn produced content featuring stories, tips, tricks and interesting use cases for CAE technologies. Shawn holds a master’s degree in Bioengineering from the University of Guelph and an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo.