Greetings; I’m a new-comer to XenDesktop; I’ve got a deployment in-the-works right now, and had a question or two. I’d been having trouble getting answers, but maybe someone here can help. When you install the VDA onto a virtual machine, it ‘knows’ whether to install the Desktop-class or Server-class VDA. The HDX 3D PRO option is not present for the server-class VDA. Can I run AutoCad on Server2008 R2, and have it take advantage of the GPU acceleration? --Or does my vm need to be Windows7?
To take a step back, my base requirement is that I supply an AutoCad client to our customers where they can view & rotate drawings with [as close to] a desktop performance as possible.
Hi…
You have two different options. You can run the Windows server in passthrough mode (standalone or as a XenApp instalnce) in which case it will need a driver as a GPU (NVGRID Series) or if run as VM desktops using a vGPU for each, it needs a different driver that will be bundled with the XenServer in that dropdown menu section (NVIDIA vGPU) for XenServer 6.2 or 6.5. You need to install the VM driver as well as the XenServer drivers separately.
The GPU version can be run either standalone and with support for not just the GRID, but a number of different GPUs, or you can run it as a VM under XenServer in which case you’d want to install the XenServer portion so you can properly assign GPU passthrough to the VM. All the downloads are are at http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us. The combinations of what drivers are needed are a bit confusing.
As to preference, it all depends. Id you want a dedicated, guaranteed amount of GPU available to each desktop, the vGPU option might be a better bet. If you want anyone to be able to take advantage of a GPU with more power available when not so busy or less if so, then GPU passthrough may be a better fit. With multiple engiens to assign, you can even have a combination of the two. As to AutoCAD specifically, it works fine both ways. See also for sure this specific article on AutoDesk applications for GPU passthrough at http://blogs.citrix.com/2014/05/28/configuring-virtualised-autodesk-and-similar-applications-including-xenapp-gpu-sharing-and-tools-for-sanity-checking-directxopengl-usage/?_ga=1.146046580.1558783495.1433165527 (thanks for that article, Rachel!).
How many instances you can support will again depend in the case of VGPUs, how you carve up the allocations, or in the case of GPU passthrough, on what different users all might be doing at the same time.
Best regards,
Besides that, go through the normal setup and you’ll probably have good performance. Remember that there is a specific license to use for AutoCAD in a session based environment.
Drop me a PM if you want help tweaking later on, AutoCAD is latency sensitive due to its animated crosshair so the networking between the user and the servers are especially important to consider.