An R development environment is a shared Linux VM or Kubernetes Cluster that runs an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), e.g. Posit Workbench or RStudio Server, and other related applications, such as Posit Connect or ShinyProxy. In such an environment, multiple users can share the available resources and configurations can be set centrally for all users1.
Using package binaries in shared development environments is a crucial component for the overall success and efficiency of each individual user.
Fast Package Downloads
Besides using R package binaries in the first place, a fast download speed further improves the quality of such an environment. The binaries of this project are 5-10 times faster in download compared to other available binaries*.
The exact timing depends on the location from where the download is initiated. The closer it is to static cache node of the distributing CDN, the faster.
Reduced Costs Through arm64 Servers
Besides accelerating downloads, this project enabled using arm64 machines for such environments. These server types are substantially cheaper than their amd64 counterparts, allowing for significant cost savings without any negative drawbacks.
The following example shows the on-demand prices of a 2 CPU 16 GB VM on Azure (2025/01):
- amd64: 0.1640/h (Standard_E2ds_v6, eastus)
- arm64: 0.1150/h (Standard_E2ps_v6, eastus)
-> 29.88% savings
Servers with the same specifications but from different generations can have significant price variations. For this comparison, an effort was made to use the latest configurations of both architectures to ensure a reasonably fair evaluation.
Footnotes
For more information about managed R environments, see “Posit Software Installation for Enterprises” offer from devXY.↩︎