A CAD Bunny's Big Adventure Through Virtualisation… frolicking with GPUs along the way – by Rachel Berry
Just a quick blog to clear up some FAQs on Microsoft Hyper-V support and NVIDIA GRID.
The GRID 4.1 release support matrix details support for Windows Server OSs. Windows Server OSs also include the Hyper-V role and support for the Hyper-V hypervisor.
Continue reading “NVIDIA GRID and Microsoft Windows Server OSs and Hyper-V”
I wrote a blog on RDSH (including XenApp) licensing and the options available with NVIDIA GRID vGPU and GPU-passthrough a few weeks ago, which you can read – here (including support for multi-monitor and resolutions). Since then my colleague Luke has added some more information in a blog where he outlines various case studies including many on vApps, which is worth a read here:
Luke answers how many licenses and what type you will need for various use cases, answering questions such as: Continue reading “NVIDIA GRID: More info on vApps and VPC/vWS Licensing”
I’ve had a few questions about what licensing is needed under the GRID 2.0 and up software licensing for the M60/M10/M6 GPUs for RDSH solutions such as XenApp. I think the confusion arises because it’s possible to use a number of GPU/vGPU different profiles for a server OS VM. The key point is to remember that the licensing is always per user.
Continue reading “NVIDIA GRID – RDSH licensing (including XenApp)”
The TCP implementation within Citrix HDX/ICA protocol used by XenDesktop and XenApp and also Citrix Netscaler is pretty Vanilla to the original TCP/IP standards and definition and the out-of-the-box configuration usually does a good job on LAN. However, for WAN scenarios particularly with higher latencies and certain kinds of data (file transfers), Citrix deployments can benefit greatly from some tuning.
Continue reading “Optimising TCP for Citrix HDX/ICA including Netscaler”
Just a quick blog aimed at those looking to develop GPU hypervisor monitoring products by integrating the NVIDIA GPU metrics exposed by XenServer via their APIs. Really it’s a bit of a guide as to where to find the information provided by Citrix.
Continue reading “NVIDIA GRID – A Guide on GPU Metric Integration for Citrix XenServer”
Lenovo have recently qualified and announced support for more NVIDIA GPUs for several servers including the x3650 M5 (E5-2600 v4), details can be found on Lenovo’s site, here:
Also recently listed is the x3500 M5:
This means Lenovo have worked with NVIDIA to test and certify that both parties hardware, firmware and software is fully-compatible, thermally and electrically stable. Continue reading “More Lenovo Servers Support NVIDIA GPUs Including the M60”
It’s great to see a new validated design released by Cisco in recent weeks. Particularly as this features the NVIDIA GRID M6 options for blade servers to enable virtualized GPU-accelerations (vGPU). This reference architecture joins other available for UCS but in particular features a reference blueprint for Citrix XenDesktop/XenApp 7.7 and VMware vSphere 6.0 for 5000 Seats. Key features include
Cisco have done a great job providing a comprehensive guide and reference for a full VDI/XenApp deployment that includes networking, storage and graphics acceleration considerations.
Cisco-NVIDIA Relationship
There are plenty of case studies, whitepapers and webinar recording covering Cisco long-investment in NVIDIA GRID and vGPU too:
Citrix have been making a fair bit of noise about their end-client (Receiver) being available and supported in-conjunction with partner ThinLinx on the Raspberry Pi, which with peripherals is proving a sub-$100 thin-client, capable of handling demanding graphics and frame rates (fps) of 30fps or more (YouTube is usually 30fps).
The Raspberry Pi and other low-cost end-points such as the Intel NUC are capable because they support hardware decode of protocols such as H.264 and JPEG used by HDX/ICA, they have SoC (system on a chip) hardware designed to handle graphics really very well. Continue reading “NVIDIA GRID GPUs perfect for keeping up with the Raspberry Pi and the next generation of end points”
I have a new secret double life! I’ve recently been involved in doing the live chat and Q&A from NVIDIA GRID webinars. If you never attended our webinars but you are interested in NVIDIA GRID technologies you should consider trying it. They usually take the format of a 1+ hour Webinar hosted by internal technology specialists like Support, Readiness or Product Management. We will show live demos, hints and best practices. And also we have regular Guest Speakers or partners involved.
Our next webinar is on Thursday 12th May 2016 (8am PST/11AM EST/4PM UK): “See How Virtual GPU Technology Can Increase User Productivity and Reduce IT Cost.”
Continue reading “Confessions of a VMware Secret Agent – NVIDIA GRID and Blast Extreme – answers!”
I had some fun at NVIDIA GTC 2016 taking part in a hands-on lab run by the SA (Solution Architecture) organisation of which I am a part. These labs are proving really useful for walking new-users to GRID through key operations on both VMware and Citrix stacks. The guys running it mooted adding more on monitoring once you have got set-up and I kind of volunteered to have a crack at a bonus chapter for the hands-on around monitoring on Citrix.
Continue reading “Monitoring NVIDIA vGPU for Citrix XenServer including with XenCenter”
Virtually Visual 