Shared Virtual GPUs (vGPU)

VIRTUAL GPU TECHNOLOGY

NVIDIA GRID™ vGPU™ brings the full benefit of NVIDIA hardware-accelerated graphics to virtualized solutions. This technology provides exceptional graphics performance for virtual desktops equivalent to local PCs when sharing a GPU among multiple users.

GRID vGPU is the industry's most advanced technology for sharing true GPU hardware acceleration between multiple virtual desktops—without compromising the graphics experience. Application features and compatibility are exactly the same as they would be at the desk.

With GRID vGPU technology, the graphics commands of each virtual machine are passed directly to the GPU, without translation by the hypervisor. This allows the GPU hardware to be time-sliced to deliver the ultimate in shared virtualized graphics performance.

vGPU Profiles mean customized, Dedicated Graphics Memory

Take advantage of vGPU Manager to assign just the right amount of memory to meet the specific needs of each user. Every virtual desktop has dedicated graphics memory, just like they would at their desk, so they always have the resources they need to launch and use their applications.

vGPU Manager enables up to eight users to share each physical GPU, assigning the graphics resources of the available GPUs to virtual machines in a balanced approach. Each NVIDIA GRID K1 card has up to four GPUs, allowing 32 users to share a single card.

NVIDIA GRID Graphics Board	Virtual GPU Profile	Application Certifications	Graphics Memory	Max Displays Per User	Max Resolution Per Display	Max Users Per Graphics Board	Use Case
GRID K2	K260Q		2,048 MB	4	2560x1600	4	Designer/Power User
K240Q		1,024 MB	2	2560x1600	8	Designer/Power User
K220Q		512 MB	2	2560x1600	16	Designer/Power User
K200		256 MB	2	1900x1200	16	Knowledge Worker
GRID K1	K140Q		1,024 MB	2	2560x1600	16	Power User
K120Q		512 MB	2	2560x1600	32	Power User
K100		256 MB	2	1900x1200	32	Knowledge Worker

The GPU profiles ending in Q undergo the same rigorous application certification process as our NVIDIA® Quadro® workstation-class processors. For a list of certified applications, download NVIDIA GRID Remote Workstation Certifications (PDF 274 KB).

The GRID K100 and K200 GPU profiles are designed for the lighter graphics workloads associated with the applications that knowledge workers and power users use most of their time. These include Windows 7 with Aero enabled, viewing rich web content such as Adobe Flash or HTML 5, or simply getting the full interactive experience of Microsoft Office (PowerPoint, Excel, Word). To understand more about the graphics requirements of your applications, consult your application vendor.

PREPARING FOR AND INSTALLING NVIDIA GRID VGPU

Step 1: Make sure you have configured XenServer 6.2 SP1 and XenDesktop 7.1 or higher. Visit www.citrix.com/go/vgpu for more information.

Step 2: Download the NVIDIA GRID vGPU Software by visiting www.nvidia.com/drivers and selecting:

• Product Type: GRID.
• Product Series: NVIDIA GRID vGPU.
• Product: GRID K1 or K2.

The GRID vGPU software package includes:

• Release Notes
• GRID vGPU User Guide
• GRID vGPU Manager
• Driver for GRID K1 or K2

1 - NVIDIA GRID™ vGPU™ is only supported on compatible versions of Citrix XenServer. Consult Citrix for compatibility.