Poor Performance With K1 & XD 7.1 App Edition

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1

Hi,

We’re having loads of performance issues with vDGA and server 2012 R2, any input will be greatly appreciated! Here’s a brief summary of our setup:

Dell R720 running VMware 5.1
Nvidia Grid K1 with GPU Passthrough in VMware (vGPU)
XenDesktop 7.1 App Edition
Server 2012 R2

Originally we had noticed that Server 2012 R2 was running slow in XD 7.1, so we hoped a K1 card would save the day!

We now log on to a XD 7.1 Citrix VM with a GPU attached and the performance is still not great, GPU-Z confirms that we are utilising the card, however everything is still so sluggish, even running a simple HTML5 benchmark (Fishbowl) runs terribly, utilising up to 100% CPU! At times everything feels extremely laggy!

We logged onto the same server via VNC protocol and couldn’t believe our eyes! The performance difference was staggering, the HTML5 test (Fishbowl) ran like a dream, utilising around 20% CPU at most! Everything was responsive just as we had expected it.

What’s confusing is that we can’t see the same performance when logging onto the same box via Citrix Receiver, is there a certain policy which we need to apply?

Or is this due to some sort of ICA limitation?

Any input at all would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Hakan

2

Have you checked out the tips in the comments on this blog? http://blogs.citrix.com/2013/12/04/openboundaries-delivering-cad-applications-remotely-through-the-use-of-citrix-xendesktop-and-xenserver-accelerated-by-gpu-sharing-of-nvidia-grid-technology/

3

Hi PolycoIT,

Could you please help to confirm the driver version which you are using on WinServer 2012R2?
If you are using any older drivers, Please help to move our latest WHQL driver [332.76] and confirm the result.

Here the 332.76 driver link for your reference: Quadro/NVS/Tesla/GRID Desktop Driver Release 331 | R331 U6 (332.76) | Windows Server 2008 x64, Windows Server 2008 R2 64, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2 64 | NVIDIA

4

Hi rts,

Apologies for the late reply, we are not using the 332.76 driver, that seems to be a different link from what we have downloaded from.

This is the driver we currently have installed: http://www.nvidia.co.uk/download/driverResults.aspx/74624/en-uk

It seems at the NVIDIA driver download screen, there are two options to choose from:

When we choose Product Type: GRID

There are two choices for Product Series: GRID Series/NVIDIA GRID vGPU.

We have downloaded the driver for the latter.

5

Hi PolycoIT,

Could you please help to confirm whether you are using vGPU or vDGA? As per your comment #1, seems you are using vDGA setup.

If you are using vDGA setup, Please use the 332.76 driver [Quadro/NVS/Tesla/GRID Desktop Driver Release 331 | R331 U6 (332.76) | Windows Server 2008 x64, Windows Server 2008 R2 64, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2 64 | NVIDIA].

6

Hi rts,

I apologise for the confusion, we are using vGPU, not vDGA.

7

PolycoIT, you listed VMware on your build list to start this thread, it does not support vGPU currently. Please confirm the details and let’s figure out what’s going on.

8

Hi PolycoIT,

Please help share nvidia bug report by running nvidia-bug-report.sh script in host and share the logs here.

9

PolycoIT,

  1. Existing Server 2012 R2 VM in VMware or XenServer
  2. Experienced the pain that is GPU-less VDI and came to a natural conclusion -> GRID
  3. Installed a GRID K1
  4. Setup vDGA/pass-through/vGPU for Server 2012 R2 VM
  5. Using existing XenDesktop configuration, no perceived performance benefit

Believe it or not, I have run in to this issue myself.

My impression is that you may have the non HDX 3D Pro VDA (Virtual Delivery Agent) installed.
The original VM was integrated into XenDesktop when it was not GPU enabled, therefore the VDA that was selected would be the non-HDX3D Pro VDA.

The method I used to rectify this situation was:

  1. Uninstall the VDA via the Control Panel -> Uninstall -> "Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent".
  2. Reboot VM
  3. Install VDA, select the HDX 3D Pro option, set your previous Storefront settings
  4. Reboot VM and connect via XenDesktop
  5. Performance should be night and day, benchmark to qualify the settings

I hope this helps.