Topic: [Awaiting reply] XenDesktop 7.5 - Nvidia GRID vGPU support statement

[sondre.andersen]

Hi!

We have built a new XenDesktop 7.5 environment with NVIDIA GRID K2 cards for a customer.
In this solution we will need to run Lumion 4.01 on virtual Windows Server 2012 R2 terminal servers.

- The servers have GPU presented to them from the Nvidia GRID K2 card in the XenServer hosts.
This works flawlessy with all the other 2d/3d application on the server (Adobe Photoshop,InDesign,ArchiCad +++)

I see from the system requirements, and other posts in this forum that you are actively discourage it and inform potential customers that Lumion is not compatible with remote desktop....

So I would like a official statement from you regarding Lumion support in Citrix XenDesktop environments with Nvidia vGPU, and most important why you are not supporting it....

- A lot of other vendors have already adopted to this new technology and have their applications certified for Nvidia vGPU..

I would encourage you also to work  to get your application certified for environments like this..
This is the future, and I believe you as a company will have strong benefits supporting your application in Citrix environments!
 
Hoping for a positive answer, and that you will change your mind regarding support in running in Citrix environments !

Best regards
Sondre Andersen
Citrix Consultant
www.technetconsulting.no

[Morten]

Hi Sondre, I can only re-iterate that remote desktop is not supported, and that the developers can't comment on whether or not a given feature will be added to a future version of Lumion.

One reason (among others) is that they don't want to promise too much and then underdeliver (if certain features turn out to be impossible to implement). You can imagine the problems we'd be facing if a customer purchased Lumion licenses based on us promising that a given feature would become a reality in a later version of Lumion and this feature then failed to materialise...

I realise that this is not the answer you would have hoped for but that's all we can offer you at this point in time.

[sondre.andersen]

Hi!
Thanks for VERY quick reply..

I understand that!

But would it be possible to get in contact with the developers and let us help them getting the application to work in Remote Desktop environments?
 - we have a demo environment they can test in !

- There should be no difference running the application locally, and in this environment..
Probably just a minor adjustment from the developers (or a startup parameter / registry setting , and the application will work..

When we start the application now it is just white like in the attached picture..

Could you at least discuss this internally and then give me a reply ?

[Morten]

Hello again, Sondre.

Thank you for the offer to provide the developers with a demo environment for tests.

I'll make sure that the developers contact you if they decide to prioritise Nvidia GRID support in a future version of Lumion.

DISCLAIMER: Please note that the above is not to be interpreted as a guarantee that dedicated Nvidia GRID support will be implemented in a future version of Lumion.

[sondre.andersen]

When running on Console of the virtual Terminal server, the application is running fine....
So this should be an easy thing for you to help us get working

[sondre.andersen]

Benchmark picture

[pokepoke]

I'll just add that supported or not, I played around with running Lumion on a GRID card a few weeks ago with XenDesktop and it worked pretty well. The lag between me and the server caused the scene to jump around as I was trying to move, but other then that it worked acceptable. I did not try do anything production level in my demo though. Your results may very.

[peterm]

Recent topic including a post by one of our developers: Would Lumion work in a virtual desktop environment using NVIDA GRID.

[xen-rasmus]

Hi Peter,

Any chance you could copypaste the developer post, or move it to a non-restricted area on the forums? I work as a Citrix consultant implementing infrastructure to support Lumion etcetera in the cloud, but I lack a Lumion license/account.

[Morten]

Certainly.

Quote from Remko's post on 29 July 2014:

"GRID is similar to remote desktop but the technology behind it is different. This makes it more suitable for high end 3D applications.

We have not conducted tests here with NVIDIA grid. I do have some benchmark data though.

I attached a performance comparison chart. It shows the performance relative to a Quadro K4000. This is the minimum performance level to make Lumion usable I think. Note that from other data we can conclude that the fastest GRID solution appears to perform at around 60% of the fasted dedicated GPU solution (GTX 780Ti)

Also note that I have no clue what happens when multiple users start Lumion at the same time."

[edonado]

Hello Morten,
There's a client interested in buying several licenses. He asks whether it can be installed in Citrix / Terminal Server setting.
As I see it, this is not possible, but I'd beg you to confirm it so I can let the client know.
 
Looking forward to your answer,
Thanks for your help!

[peterm]

Hi Eugenio

You are correct.  Lumion does not support remote desktop environments.

Please also refer to FAQ. 
And our Knowledge Base Article:Does Lumion support 'remote desktop' access?.

[cmulrooney]

While it isn't officially supported we have been running Lumion on XenApp 7.6 for over a year. The performance has been excellent, it slows down  if someone opens another instance of Lumion on the same vm. It doesn't perform as well, minor lags, things the users can live with but would prefer to see run smoother. One instance on a XenApp 7.6 server, 8 vCPU, 30 GB RAM with a Nimble array on the backend for storage runs great for our production purposes. (while Revit sessions are running at the same time). Obviously the complexity of the model factors into that equation and now that we have developed proficiency in it the demand will increase. One thing to note - we do not run applications on local machines for anyone. It is part of our disaster recovery and business continuity plan, as well as a financial decision. We will simply look for another solution instead of purchasing additional Lumion licenses if they won't look at adding support for remote desktop use cases. Especially when Citrix who partners with NVIDIA very successfully in this specific area has offered at no cost to assist with the process of developing on this platform.

[peterm]

Hi cmulrooney

Thank you for the feedback and time to post your information.

What graphics cards are used in your XenApp 7.6 server environment?

[jpagno]

@cmulrooney What is the secret to making lumion work with xendesktop? Thank you