Virtualize servers or Not for Citrix

[Anonymous]

We are reviewing options for replacing a 5 year old Citrix XenApp farm that is used to provide access to several Autodesk applications. The existing system consists of 5 servers, NetScaler and other Citrix systems to provide load balancing, etc..

In considering a replacement environment we are faced with a decision to either continue with bare metal servers running a Windows OS with XenApp installed as we have today or virtualize the servers. While we know the benefits of going with a virtualized environment we are also faced with higher costs for the GPU as we now need GRID licensing.

Can anyone shed light on whether or not the performance of Autodesk apps on virtualized servers using Nvidia GRID is superior to what I would call GPU passthrough on bare metal servers?

Thank you.

@Anonymous

john.vellek has edited your subject line for clarity: Virtualize or Not

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

Good question to which I have no answer. Let me reach out see if I can find some answers for you. Thanks for your patience.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, I look forward to your response.

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

Thanks for your patience. I am still trying to find the correct information resources for your question.

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

While you and I are waiting for some responses to your questions, can you define what you mean by "virtualized server"?  For instance, are you referring to AWS or Azure?

Also, in regards to the GRID licensing, I assume you are looking at Nvidia M10 or higher.

[Anonymous]

Virtual servers as in servers built on a Hyper Visor like VMware ESXi or Citrix XenServer. Our current farm has XenApp installed on bare metal Windows 2012 R2 servers. We are looking to build virtual Windows 2016 servers with XenApp on them. What I know about nVidia GRID is that GRID is required if you have virtual servers as you need virtual GPU. Our bare metal servers use GPU passthrough.

I'm wondering what the best environment is for performance. Bare metal servers with GPU passthrough or virtual servers with vGPU GRID.

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

Thanks for the additional information. I will be back to thread after a little more research.

[john.vellek · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous,

I discussed this question with some Citrix contacts and they indicated that this is really a tough process to simplify to a single answer in a public forum. So, first I would strongly suggest that you reach out to your Citrix representative directly to see if they can help tailor a solution that best matches your budget, environment, workflow and performance expectations.

They did indicate that they utilize both bare metal and VMware in their offices and this can certainly work. But there are advantages to both methods.

If you run a VMWare setup you need to be very specific on configuring the correct driver and to make sure that you are utilizing an Autodesk Certified graphics card configuration.

On the Citrix side, you can utilize GPU slicing instead of Passthru wich can keep your cost down and may be easier to manage than in a VMware environment.  Whether slicing makes sense or not will largely depend on your workflow and environment.

Their suggsetion was to setup a test group of 10-20 of your high-use employees.  Deploy the solution  you are leaning towards and capture the results for evaluation.

Here is an article from Nvidia on the GIRD licensing and how it works.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

I am coming back to your thread to see if the issue or question you posed has been resolved.  If so, please mark the post or posts as Solution(s) to help others find the answer quickly. If your issue persists, please give me a bit more detail on this issue so we can continue to work towards getting this solved.