# Overview #### What is Sandbox Studio? **Sandbox Studio** is a web-based solution that helps cloud administrators manage **temporary AWS sandbox environments**. It automates the enforcement of **security policies**, **governance rules**, **budget controls**, and **account recycling settings** — all through an easy-to-use web interface. The solution allows organisations to give teams a safe space to **experiment**, **learn**, and **prototype** with AWS services in **production-isolated AWS accounts** that are cleaned and recycled after use. --- #### Key Capabilities Sandbox Studio automatically configures a **sandbox Organizational Unit (OU)** in AWS Organizations. This OU is preloaded with AWS best practices for **workload isolation** and **governance**. When deployed, it applies a standard set of **policies**, **guardrails**, and **controls** to all sandbox accounts. The platform provides: - **Automated cost controls** - Sends alerts when spending approaches budget limits. - Can trigger automated actions (e.g., resource shutdowns) when limits are reached. - **Account recycling** - Allows accounts to be used for a **fixed duration** or until a **spend threshold** is met. - Cleans and resets accounts at the end of the sandbox period. - **Security restrictions** - Limits access to expensive or sensitive AWS actions within sandbox accounts. --- #### Common Use Cases Sandbox Studio supports a wide range of scenarios where teams need safe, temporary AWS environments. These environments can be pre-configured, budget-limited, and automatically cleaned up — making them ideal for experimentation, learning, and short-term projects. Below are some of the most common ways organisations use Sandbox Studio. --- ##### Development and Innovation Experiments **Typical users:** **Developers, product engineers** Create small-scale, temporary AWS setups to try out new services or features before committing to a production build. Teams can quickly explore possibilities, validate technical approaches, and demonstrate value without the overhead of a full deployment pipeline. --- ##### Train and Test GenAI Models **Typical users:** **Machine learning engineers, data scientists** Work with pre-configured environments to train and fine-tune generative AI models. Sandbox Studio makes it easy to run experiments with different training datasets, apply reinforcement learning techniques, and monitor outcomes in a safe, isolated space. --- ##### Test Environments **Typical users:** **QA/test engineers** Spin up a clean, disposable environment for thorough application testing. These sandboxes are ideal for verifying integrations, reproducing defects, running regression suites, and testing API updates — all without risking production stability. --- ##### Higher Education Training Labs **Typical users:** **Professors, lecturers, academic department heads** Set up classroom-ready AWS accounts for students to explore cloud computing hands-on. Instructors can control spending, reset environments between sessions, and ensure each student gets a fresh workspace for assignments or exams. --- ##### Research and Development (R&D) **Typical users:** **University researchers, enterprise R&D teams** Provide a controlled cloud platform for research teams to run experiments and gather data. These sandboxes make it possible to test hypotheses, simulate real-world conditions, and analyse results without long-term infrastructure commitments. --- ##### Employee Onboarding and Training **Typical users:** **Training leads, HR onboarding teams** Launch short-lived AWS environments to give new hires or existing staff practical experience with tools, workflows, or new technologies. Ideal for structured training sessions, internal workshops, or skills refreshers. --- ##### Hackathons **Typical users:** **Enterprise IT teams** Run organisation-hosted hackathons in AWS accounts you own and control. This enables participants to work on real challenges while keeping sensitive or proprietary data inside your security boundaries. --- ##### Demo Environments **Typical users:** **Engineers, solution architects** Set up temporary environments to showcase applications or solutions. These can be pre-loaded with sample data and configurations to deliver smooth, predictable demos to clients or stakeholders. --- ##### Software Vendor Trials **Typical users:** **Software vendors, sales engineers** Offer time-limited or budget-restricted AWS environments so customers can test your software. This ensures a consistent experience for every trial while keeping operational costs under control. --- #### Who Should Use This Guide This installation guide is designed for: - **Solution architects** - **DevOps engineers** - **AWS account administrators** - **Cloud operations teams** It provides: - An **architecture overview** - **Planning considerations** before deployment - **Step-by-step configuration instructions** for launching Sandbox Studio in your AWS environment