A remote virtual cloud computer local terminal thing?
January 3, 2021 2:20 PM Subscribe
Can I use my computer as a terminal for... itself, processing elsewhere?
Say, hypothetically, I play resource-intensive games with someone over the internet. They run the copy of the game on their computer, and we play virtual local two-player. My computer is acting as a terminal basically. I'm not able to run the game well on my computer. Could I do something like this on my own--borrow processing from AWS or whatever, and run my own PC virtually?
Say, hypothetically, I play resource-intensive games with someone over the internet. They run the copy of the game on their computer, and we play virtual local two-player. My computer is acting as a terminal basically. I'm not able to run the game well on my computer. Could I do something like this on my own--borrow processing from AWS or whatever, and run my own PC virtually?
Yes, you can rent a remote virtual machine, usually with standardized software packages. Search for "virtual desktop" or "remote virtual machine" for options. These are usually aimed at corporate clients.
posted by agentofselection at 2:29 PM on January 3, 2021
posted by agentofselection at 2:29 PM on January 3, 2021
If what you want is a general purpose PC, then AWS WorkSpaces is almost exactly this, offering a persistent desktop environment with up to 16 CPU cores and a graphics card. You would have to install any necessary applications and copy over files, but it's one way to do it.
Monthly pricing ranges from $21 to $1000 depending on the size of the virtual computer and whether it's running Linux or Windows. There are also hourly billing options if you're only using it occasionally.
But if you specifically want a virtual gaming PC then Google Stadia or Nvidia's GeForce Now are the way to go. Or Microsoft's Xbox Remote Play, but it currently only streams to phones and tablets.
posted by jedicus at 2:34 PM on January 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
Monthly pricing ranges from $21 to $1000 depending on the size of the virtual computer and whether it's running Linux or Windows. There are also hourly billing options if you're only using it occasionally.
But if you specifically want a virtual gaming PC then Google Stadia or Nvidia's GeForce Now are the way to go. Or Microsoft's Xbox Remote Play, but it currently only streams to phones and tablets.
posted by jedicus at 2:34 PM on January 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
"Cloud gaming" is a search term that will find you plenty of options. There are lots of services that rent virtual PCs set up and customized specifically for gaming. Amazon even has its own dedicated cloud gaming service, for example, in addition to all of their other virtual PC and virtual server offerings.
Some, like Google Stadia, go to great lengths to engineer and optimize things to manage the latency inherent in moving input from you to the data center and image data from there back to you. Others will just rent you a virtual PC with some configuration and customization done to make it easy to run games.
posted by whatnotever at 3:56 PM on January 3, 2021
Some, like Google Stadia, go to great lengths to engineer and optimize things to manage the latency inherent in moving input from you to the data center and image data from there back to you. Others will just rent you a virtual PC with some configuration and customization done to make it easy to run games.
posted by whatnotever at 3:56 PM on January 3, 2021
Response by poster: Well. I tried the Nvidia service. I bought the game in question on GOG but I play it through the Steam app. Nvidia didn't seem to have a way to play anything other than what's purchased through the Steam store. I signed into my Steam account on Nvidia. It doesn't have a way to view my full library... I also tried running another game that I bought through Steam and it said error: invalid platform. When I clicked "play now" from the store page ("Already in your library. Play now?")
posted by Sterros at 3:58 PM on January 3, 2021
posted by Sterros at 3:58 PM on January 3, 2021
Best answer: If the goal is arbitrary games, Shadow is better than Geforce Now (which limits the allowed games)
posted by Anonymous Function at 12:02 PM on January 4, 2021
posted by Anonymous Function at 12:02 PM on January 4, 2021
Response by poster: Shadow looks about right for me, thanks. Not happy about the low storage space but I'll give it a shot.
posted by Sterros at 2:44 PM on January 4, 2021
posted by Sterros at 2:44 PM on January 4, 2021
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posted by caek at 2:27 PM on January 3, 2021 [1 favorite]