Do you want to see what Los Angeles looks like at 4 o'clock in the morning? You can see it by setting up a free remote desktop in Los Angeles in just 10 minutes. With Amazon's global availability zones, you can even build a remote desktop that meets your configuration needs anywhere in the world. This tutorial requires an Amazon Web Services (AWS) overseas account, and the account registration process is omitted to save time. Currently, registering an AWS account with Amazon Web Services can still enjoy the 12-month free package, which includes various popular products such as EC2.
Step 1: Launch Amazon Lightsail Instance
Find Lightsail under (Compute) in all services and click to open the Lightsail control panel.
After entering the Amazon Lightsail welcome interface, click Create instance to create and configure the Lightsail instance. You can also choose Chinese in the language options in the lower right corner for easier setup.
Step 2: Configure the Remote Desktop
In the pop-up settings interface, from top to bottom, you can choose:
- The IP location of the virtual desktop;
- The operating system platform (here it is recommended for beginners to choose Windows for easier management, and if there are no special requirements for the virtual desktop system version, you can choose the latest version of Windows);
- Configuration and payment plan (currently, the configurations available for free trial can be experienced for 3 months);
After making the selections, click Create instance.
The instance status "Pending" means that the Lightsail instance is being created for you.
Step 3: Start the Remote Desktop
Wait a moment, if the instance shows "Running", it means that the configuration is complete. There will also be an icon of a monitor in the upper right corner.
After clicking the monitor icon, a virtual desktop window will pop up.
Step 4: Use the Remote Desktop
You can use the virtual keyboard to input.
You can also use the remote clipboard feature in the lower right corner to input characters, and then copy and paste them into the remote desktop.
You can use the browser in the virtual desktop to check the IP address of the current remote desktop.
Alright, that's the end of the tutorial. You can use the remote desktop to see the scenery you want to see or learn the knowledge you want to learn. As for other features, it's up to you to explore. The most important thing is that it doesn't cost any money at all.