How to install and configure Citrix XenDesktops GRID vGPU feature Citrix XenDesktops support for GPU virtualization allows virtual desktop administrators to run more graphics-heavy applications with better performance. Citrix added the capability for XenServer 6.2 SP1 to virtualize the Nvidia GRID K1 and K2 graphics processing unit (GPU) boards. These virtual GPUs (vGPUs) are accessible by the XenDesktop 7.1 desktop and server OS. Graphics applications have historically been a major impediment to virtual desktop adoption. Computer-aided design (CAD) software like CATIA and AutoCAD, for example, can take a Citrix XenDesktop VM and even its host server to their limits. As a result, Citrix administrators have had to tune down the quality of the graphics data in these types of applications. This translates to an inferior experience for the end user. Nvidias GRID vGPU technology puts these scenarios back into the possible column for virtual desktops. It has also become common practice for administrators to disable the eye-candy elements of Windows. These range from displaying thumbnails in Explorer; menu fade-in, fade-out effects; Aero glass, or transparency, effects on the taskbar and windows; and things like Aero peek, which displays a thumbnail of a running application. With a vGPU available, which can be as little as one-eighth of a K1 boards four GPUs, the user gets enough of a boost to make this kind of tuning less critical. The end result is a virtual desktop that is much more on par with the physical desktop in look and feel. Installing the GRID vGPU feature Nvidia certifies the GRID cards on a relatively small set of servers, and the GRID vGPU feature is available only on the XenServer hypervisor -- specifically XenServer 6.2 with SP1 applied. Once the GRID cards have been physically installed in the XenServer host, the Nvidia vGPU GRID Manager driver (available on the Nvidia website) needs to be installed next. This provides XenServer with a paravirtualized driver for the GPU.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 13:26:47 +0000
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