Real Virtuality: Workstations ++

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Habr

26 min

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If only 3-4 years ago automation was deciding, then today it is the turn of virtualization: available powerful workstations equalize the potential of transnational giants and small businesses. Workstations are professional computers with a set of hardware and software designed to solve a certain range of tasks: multimedia (image, video, sound processing), CAD, GIS, scientific and technical calculations, industrial applications, etc. receive as a cloud service. It is gaining popularity with an increasing number of companies for its ease of integration into IT infrastructure and economic benefits. So, there is no turning back, there is only virtuality ahead? Let's figure it out.

What is a workstation?

The first workstations appeared in the late 60s and today they are widely used to work with computer-aided design and construction systems, 2D and 3D graphics, video editing and resource-intensive computing. With the advent of 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows operating systems, high-performance UNIX workstations with proprietary software environments have given way to MS Windows systems. Many vendors also offer Linux from Red Hat or SuSE as an alternative.

Workstations are a useful tool for planners and designers, financial analysts and researchers, content creators and creators. They support the most demanding tasks and applications such as complex graphics rendering, financial analysis, computational tasks and video editing, and other complex digital content creation. 

When processing geospatial data, building three-dimensional terrain models, etc. on standard PCs, you often have to deal with a lack of memory, delays and "freezes", while workstations demonstrate high performance and do a good job of displaying data.

A workstation is not just a computer, it is a range of mechanisms designed to perform the most resource-intensive tasks, ensure smooth operation and advanced functionality. 

Distinctive features of modern workstations are high speed of work with data, powerful processor, large capacity of fast RAM, integrated high-performance network controller, professional graphics subsystem. 

Applications and types of workstations

The equipment of workstations provides high productivity in design, realistic rendering of wireframe and textured 3D models, fast obtaining of scientific results, processing of high-resolution video and creation of various video effects.

According to the classes of tasks to be solved, workstations can be conditionally divided into several types:

Workstation view	Application area
Graphic	Graphics and multimedia, in particular, computer graphics and processing of images, video, sound, development of computer games and digital content.
For engineering or architectural design	Various engineering, architectural and other CAD, GIS, field work and geodesy, etc.
For scientific and technical tasks	Scientific and engineering calculations.
For trading	Professional stock and internet trading.
For industrial tasks	Design, operational management and monitoring, process management.

Each subclass of professional workstations can have inherent features and unique components that differ significantly from mass PC models: large display size / resolution and / or multiple displays (CAD, GIS, stock trading, Internet trading), powerful video card (cinema and video , animation, computer games), large capacity / performance of the data storage subsystem (scientific tasks, animation), mobile or secure execution (operation in the field or in the shops of industrial enterprises), etc. 

So models equipped with NVIDIA graphics accelerators are suitable for professionals involved in 3D modeling, engineering analysis, nonlinear video editing (NLE), design, as well as for financial professionals.

The professional graphics cards Quadro RTX 6000 and Quadro RTX 5000, which are based on select GPUs based on the Turing architecture, are distinguished by support for hardware accelerated ray tracing, which is provided by specialized RT cores.

Graphics workstations (the broadest category) are suitable for designers, artists, photographers, animators, video editors, designers, engineers, and anyone else who uses specialized graphics packages. They have great performance in graphics, video and animation. Graphics workstations typically use the latest NVIDIA or AMD GPUs.

They are often equipped with multiple monitors, are used to work with 2D and 3D graphics (design, engineering, etc.), data visualization (medicine, big data analytics), rendering, modeling (CAD / CAM), creating video walls, gesture recognition, GIS, etc. 

Graphics workstations are widely used in modeling for the automotive, aircraft, oil and gas, media, medical, and research visualization industries.

Scope of the graphic workstation	Description	Tasks to be solved	Typical software
CAD	Professional workstations for engineers and designers who work with computer-aided design and engineering (CAD / CAM / CAE) applications.	Design, construction, production.	Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, Altair HyperWorks, Siemens NX.
3D graphics	Used for work in the field of 3D animation and modeling, when fast interactive work with graphics is required. In 3D rendering, they provide the fastest possible rendering result.	Modeling, animation, visualization.	Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk Maya, Adobe After Effects CC, Maxon CINEMA 4D.
Video editing	Video editing workstations based on professional NVIDIA QUADRO graphics accelerators with support for CUDA technology accelerate the processing and conversion of Full HD and ULTRA HD 4K high-definition video tenfold.	Video editing, work with video content Full HD, Ultra HD 4K.	Adobe Premiere Pro CC, Avid Media Composer, Sony Vegas Pro, Grass Valley Edius.

CAD workstations

CAD workstations - a subclass of graphic workstations - allow you to create design and / or technological documentation, geometric models (solid, three-dimensional, composite), as well as product drawings. The hardware resources of such a workstation use all the functionality of professional CAD systems: CATIA, CREO, NX, Inventor, Compass, AutoCAD, Solid Works, SolidEdge, T-Flex CAD and others.

Type of CAD	Tasks to be solved
Engineering	Development of a wide range of products: from the creation of aerospace systems to the design of household appliances.
Microelectronic products	Design of schematic and wiring diagrams, printed circuit boards, automatic placement of product elements, autorouting.
Electrotechnical	Development of schematic diagrams and wiring diagrams of electrical equipment, its spatial layout, maintenance of finished product databases.
Architectural	2D / 3D design of architectural and building structures, calculation of special structures such as roofs, typical static calculations of building structures, maintenance of databases of standard elements, planning of areas for construction.
Equipment for industrial plants and structures	Creation of schematic diagrams of installations, spatial layout of pipelines and cable routes, design of heating, water supply, sewerage, power supply, ventilation and air conditioning systems, maintenance of databases of equipment, pipeline fittings, finished electrical products.
Geoinformation	Digitizing field survey data, analyzing geodetic networks, building a digital elevation model, creating maps and plans in vector form, maintaining land and city cadastres, maintaining an electronic cartographic archive.

Graphic workstations for design automation systems (CAD) represent a wide class of systems for tasks CAD (Computer Aided Design), CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) and CAE (Computer Aided Engineering). 

Modern CAD workstations are conventionally divided into the following groups:

CAD workstations	Areas of application of workstations
Entry level	2D-modeling of products, work with small assemblies in 3D; entry-level design and architectural engineering.
Middle level	3D modeling of parts, work with small and medium assemblies; design and architectural design.
High-end workstations	High performance computing using specialized software, engineering analysis and simulation; preparation of photorealistic images (rendering); video processing and imposition of effects; working with super-large assemblies.

Today, as the cloud is becoming as common in IT infrastructure as a server or workstation, virtual graphics station services are gaining popularity, solving the important task of harnessing graphics power from the cloud that seemed impossible just a few years ago. 

Virtual Graphics Station - the time has come

Previously, working with resource-intensive applications was entrusted to powerful computers and workstations with a wide range of applications. The disadvantages of the above solutions are the high cost of ownership, the need for regular investments in upgrades and the limitation of user mobility. 

The output is virtual graphics workstations hosted in a high-performance cloud environment. This technology not only provides access to virtually unlimited amounts of computing resources in the cloud, but also allows you to work simultaneously with several resource-intensive applications online. And all this - without being tied to a stationary workplace.

VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) technology allows you to create a virtual IT infrastructure and deploy workstations based on server systems, where many virtual machines are running. In fact, for users it looks like a familiar workplace on a PC with the necessary applications. 

VDI makes it possible to create full-fledged user workstations, functionally identical to workstations of classical architecture. VDI infrastructure involves placing virtual desktops and other user resources in the server infrastructure (in a corporate data center or in a provider's cloud) and providing access to them from the company's internal network and / or via the Internet. 

As a result, instead of supplying graphics-heavy users with powerful workstations, you can take advantage of a more modern solution and deploy a VDI infrastructure. They will have at their disposal a virtual graphics workstation - a service for accessing a virtual machine with a graphics accelerator. 

In fact, this is a remote terminal access to a virtual machine with a powerful graphics subsystem. A company can save money by working with remote employees from regions or other countries, and collect virtual teams.
Providing a full computing core of a video card to a virtual machine allows using such high-load applications as AVEVA, SolidWorks, AutoCAD, SketchUP, 3DS Max, Revit, ArshiCAD, etc. on a virtual workstation. Moreover, such a configuration replaces several powerful workstations.

The AMD Radeon Pro V340 is designed to provide reliable graphics performance on all systems, from the cloud to virtually any device. The hardware solution for GPU virtualization (AMD MxGPU) is based on the standard SR-IOV (Single-Root I / O Virtualization) device virtualization technology, which allows virtualized users to work remotely (their number can be up to 16 on each physical GPU).

Such a platform is often based on powerful NVIDIA graphics cards or AMD GPUs with fast storage. Windows Server is often used as a virtualization platform. To improve the performance of the disk system, flash drives (SSD) are usually used. 

Benefits of VDI

The virtual graphics station can be included in the existing IT infrastructure of the company. All projects can be stored on a corporate network or in cloud storage, which is accessed from anywhere with the Internet. 

VDI infrastructure provides a higher level of protection during the transfer and storage of important information, centralized management of IT infrastructure of workplaces and provision of IT services to employees. At the same time, the cost of implementing VDI turns out to be comparable to replacing the PC fleet.

In VDI architecture, all data is stored on a server in the data center. This solution significantly increases the level of information security, provides much more efficient use of computing resources compared to full-featured physical workstations and provides convenient tools for centralized administration of workstations.

One of the advantages of VDI is that, if necessary, a user workstation of any available performance is created, and when it is no longer needed, it is deleted. Thus, with the availability of modern Internet channels, significant computing power can be allocated to remote users.

By the way, as testing shows, the speed of the 3G mobile network 17 Mbit / s (2.12 MB / s) is clearly not enough - it is uncomfortable to work, not to mention HD video, which VMware Verizon simply "cannot handle" on such a channel.

In general, VDI provides the following main benefits:

• the ability to dynamically and efficiently manage computing resources;
• unification of software and workstation park;
• centralized administration of software and workstation;
• a significant reduction in the number of information security incidents;
• shortening the terms of providing new AWPs;
• improving the security of data storage and processing;
• reducing costs with the support of remote offices.

The main driver of VDI implementation is data security and safety, centralization of management and administration. The VDI system is usually deployed by fairly large companies.

You can use virtual graphics stations when you need:

• Allocate graphics power for a short-term project.
• Expand your current infrastructure quickly without a lengthy procurement process for new graphics stations.
• Engage remote employees or freelancers to work on a project.
  
• Transfer part of workplaces to the cloud (for example, if the existing equipment is outdated, and the budget does not allow to update it).
• Get savings, including on software licenses.
• Provide protection of access and work results (you can use the VPN, anti-virus protection, backup options).

They are also convenient to use for training, testing, organizing temporary work.

From the history of VDI

VDI technology originated at the intersection of three areas: terminal access, remote work with graphic stations and server virtualization.
The standard VDI infrastructure can be of three types: 

• Terminal Session, application streaming.
• Pooled Desktop.
• Personal desktops.

Unlike terminal farms, in the latter case, VDI users get at their disposal a personal virtual machine with an installed OS and applications, and virtualization provides user isolation and resource sharing: only those computing resources are available to the user that are allocated to his virtual machine. 

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is a way to access workstations that work remotely in a data center.

The main consumers of VDI solutions today are considered the financial and banking sector, retail, healthcare and insurance, however, due to the development of technologies for accelerating image processing and transmission, companies from the mechanical engineering industry have become interested in VDI solutions.

The evolution of VDI can be broken down into several key stages:

VDI 1.0

This early stage is a basic approach to VDI that is not yet widely adopted by enterprises that are just getting started with the solution and have mainly used VDI for non-business-critical applications. This technology has been used primarily for call center applications. The VDI configurations were quite limited and there were not many resources (compute, storage, and networking) consumed when running virtual machines in the datacenter.

This deployment did not place high demands on storage I / O performance, bandwidth, or network latency. Traditional disk drives (HDDs) were quite satisfying to the user's needs.

VDI 1.0 is the first attempt to apply breakthrough virtualization technology to PCs, but has little to no cost benefit. 

VDI 2.0

This is the current generation of VDI, which appeared about 2-3 years ago. This stage is likely to last for several more years. VDI 2.0 is also the basic version of VDI, but already of the next generation. 

As enterprises have appreciated the security, availability, flexibility, and manageability benefits of VDI 1.0 over physical workstations, VDI adoption has become more widespread, and there is every reason to believe that this trend will continue.

With the growing popularity of VDI, new use cases for this technology have appeared, and it has begun to be used in many applications. However, this created infrastructure problems such as boot storms, patching, rapid deployment. The configurations of virtual workstations have become "heavier". 

The storage I / O performance requirements were thousands of IOPS, and HDDs could no longer cope with them. There have been attempts to optimize storage performance using a SAN of hundreds of magnetic media, but such solutions have proven to be ineffective, either technically or economically, and VDI tasks require different types of I / O. Flash arrays are used to eliminate these problems, but this increases the cost of the solution. 

The new architectures use flash-based hyper-converged systems (integrating storage, networking, and computing) to meet storage performance needs. Some solutions use SSDs to cache data, while others, such as VMware's All Flash Virtual SAN, have designed the entire storage stack using different types of flash memory. 

Enterprises are now adopting fully or partially flash-based solutions using a hyper-converged approach. This trend continues in VDI 3.0.

VDI 3.0

In VDI 2.0, the scope of this infrastructure has expanded, and the average cost of a virtual workstation has decreased. A new stage has begun. With the proliferation of VDI, this approach began to be tested in the field of virtualization of high-performance workstations. 

VDI 2.0 and VDI 3.0 have a lot in common. Flash memory plays a key role in the advancement of technology. With the increased use of graphics-intensive applications in VDI 3.0, the storage subsystem has become even more important.

The use of high-performance workstations has expanded, such as engineering workstations or design systems (CAD). A few years ago, virtualizing workstations with similar requirements was simply unthinkable. However, today this is becoming a reality thanks to flash memory and graphics accelerators. 

Yet VDI 3.0 promises acceptable performance and competitive costs for even the most complex virtual desktop use cases.

VDI market 

The VDI market is a little over 10 years old. Its traditional leaders are Citrix and VMware. VMware has built a strong portfolio of desktop virtualization solutions through in-house product development and active acquisitions. Its VDI solutions are integrated with the vSphere virtualization platform, vRealize Operations Manager monitoring system, NSX software-defined network management software and vSAN software storage.

Citrix started with terminal access applications (WinFrame) and gained popularity with Citrix XenDesktop due to the product's functionality that supports multiple virtualization platforms (Citrix XenServer hypervisors, Microsoft Hyper-V, and VMware ESXi) and Citrix terminal solutions client base. 

Microsoft, Parallels, Huawei and several other vendors are also known in the VDI market. Moreover, Microsoft is actively promoting solutions of its partner Citrix. 

Large VDI installations are demanding on both storage capacity and performance. When deploying, starting, or upgrading virtual workstations, the storage system is under severe stress. Modern flash arrays are designed to solve this problem, providing the necessary performance indicators.

The growing popularity of hyper-converged systems (HCI), which allows you to combine computing resources and data storage in a single solution. In addition, HCI enables VDI infrastructure to scale out.

VDI, with its centralization and unification of IT infrastructure, increased security of storage and data processing, is also characterized by relatively high capital costs compared to physical workstations, the need to modernize the existing IT infrastructure. 

This is one of the reasons for the growing popularity of monthly subscription based virtual desktop access services (such as VMware Horizon Air and Amazon Workspaces). The services of virtual workstations are represented by a number of Russian cloud providers. 

Virtual graphics station and its features

Virtual Graphics Station - a service for accessing a virtual machine with a graphics accelerator. Such remote terminal access is very convenient for specialists working with graphic software. It is suitable for designers, freelance artists, employees of small studios.

The server platform is usually built on high-performance NVIDIA or AMD graphics cards with fast storage. Windows Server is used as a virtualization platform, storage subsystems are SSD (NVMe). The clients are VMware, Microsoft or Citrix software.

Interaction between VMs and graphics cards. 

NVIDIA GRID vGPU technology unleashes the potential of NVIDIA graphics acceleration in virtualized environments. NVIDIA GRID vGPU virtual graphics processing unit (GPU) enables high graphics performance in virtual workstations and GPU hardware acceleration for multiple virtual workstations without sacrificing graphics quality. The graphics commands of each virtual machine are sent directly to the GPU without translation by the hypervisor. 

Forwarding the graphics card of the VM.

For teamwork or using resource-intensive applications (SolidWorks, AutoCAD, 3DS Max, Revit, ArсhiCAD, etc.), you can use a special GPU Pass-through mode - forwarding a card (PCIe device) to a virtual server. In this case, the VM directly receives the full computing core of the video card. This option replaces several powerful workstations.

As clients, you can use ordinary PCs and even thin clients, but the channel is recommended not already 4 Mbps.

To "forward" a video card to a virtual server, you need to enable passthrough mode for this PCIe device in the host configuration and add the PCI device to the VM configuration. In the 3DMark test, the "forwarded" virtual card shows high results, practically identical to the physically installed graphics card.

Such a feature of graphics acceleration technologies as the ability to "throw" a video card directly into a virtual machine not only has a positive effect on the quality and speed of working with graphics. Some applications will simply not function correctly without full access to the graphics card.

Target audience of VDI.

The use of technologies for working with graphics in the VDI environment gives good results. Graphics acceleration modes in VDI platforms allow graphics applications to perform much the same as on physical workstations - without lag or lag. 

An important aspect is safety. Any physical workstation in the workplace is potentially unsafe, as it contains information, the loss of which could seriously harm the company.

Terminal access solves this problem, since the employee simply does not have the ability to download the data and take it with him.

Another significant advantage is the efficient use of resources.

The expensive NVIDIA graphics card purchased under the conditions of a limited budget will not be used 100% most of the time, and the budget does not allow providing all employees with powerful and expensive workplaces. Virtualization is a way out of this situation.

Video cards can be used together. Thus, it is possible to provide each employee with a high-end video card with minimal investment and without downtime.

Instead of a large pool of graphics workstations, multiple servers with powerful graphics cards are used. Employees of the company will be able to connect to them at the same time and use the resources of CPU, RAM, SSD and GPU on a competitive basis. Moreover, all information (files, projects, assemblies) does not leave the data center.

NVIDIA graphics cards have multiple graphics GPUs that operate independently of each other. The hypervisor identifies these GPUs as separate PCI devices. Some video cards have an increased amount of video memory, which is actively used, for example, in rendering models.

The GPU has thousands of processing cores for efficiently parallel processing of workloads such as 3D graphics applications, video processing, and image rendering. GPU virtualization allows you to share its power among several virtual machines - each receives its own vGPU.

NVIDIA vGPU software and NVIDIA Tesla accelerators provide workstations with powerful GPUs in the data center. As a result, applications work the way they are supposed to work.

NVIDIA's virtual GPU offerings include several digital workspace products: NVIDIA GRID virtual PCs (GRID vPC), NVIDIA GRID virtual applications (GRID vApps), and NVIDIA Quadro virtual data center workstation (Quadro vDWS) for designers. engineers and architects. 

A suite of graphics virtualization technologies from VMware-Citrix-Microsoft that can be combined to optimize performance.

Who needs VDI?

A virtual workstation is an invaluable tool for creators, content creators, design studios and marketing agencies, as well as anyone for whom buying a powerful graphics station is irrational or over budget. And all other potential users can benefit from the service model (transfer of CAPEX to OPEX).

In theory, implementing VDI in a branched enterprise helps reduce (over time) operational costs. If only simply because the efforts associated with solving everyday tasks (helping everyone to restore the system, update, apply a patch), from the IT department will be much less required. But it won't be cheap to implement such a project. Yes, VDI is an expensive technology, and sometimes not the best replacement for the classic workplace. It all depends on the specific case, goals and availability of resources.

In addition, the success of VDI projects, as a rule, largely depends on their correct implementation, a competent preliminary analysis for the correspondence of the project goals to real possibilities, so that one cannot do without expertise.

The experience of such projects shows that some customers are really happy with the results, while others experience significant difficulties in implementing and operating such solutions.

If we talk about VDI in general, then it was previously believed that virtualization of workplaces makes sense when the number of users is more than 500, then - 200 (virtualization of workstations is a special case). Today, at the cost of implementation, VDI technology has become much more affordable. Experts say that it is economically feasible to implement such systems in enterprises with more than 50 jobs.

Meanwhile, in order to deploy a data center at your enterprise and organize its work, you will need to spend money on the purchase of equipment, as well as certified software. It may require preparing the IT infrastructure for changes, optimizing software for a multi-user environment, replacing old, incompatible and proprietary software with more standard solutions.

An important role, especially in the virtualization of workstations, is played by communication channels between clients and the data center infrastructure - they must be with a reserve of bandwidth and, preferably, redundant. Particular attention should be paid to the connected peripherals and their compatibility in the VDI environment.

Not uncommon - problems with data storage systems, which must withstand a large flow of information. Also, high requirements are imposed on the qualifications of specialists who will have to work with the new system.

The best option for VDI - companies with a new IT infrastructure, a large number of similar users with modern office software, departments of organizations with a limited set of tasks, such as call centers, projects for standardizing workstations to work from different devices and from different places, with frequent the movement of users inside and outside the company; and special security requirements.

Companies with a long-term IT infrastructure and a huge fleet of heterogeneous user software that, for one reason or another, cannot be replaced or optimized, are not the best choice for VDI, as well as the heterogeneity of most users, insufficient communication channels for comfortable work with VDI. In such cases, it is best to scale down the project or postpone the VDI project altogether.

Specific cases are when VDI is used to virtualize powerful workstations for processing graphics, for working with heavy files. Modern technologies of virtualization of workstations make it possible to work together not only on typical tasks, but also with specialized software, to run CAD files on a VM, three-dimensional modeling, professional graphic editors. All new generations of graphics adapters from NVIDIA, AMD, and soon Intel, VDI vendors will optimize their software. Therefore, the performance of virtual stations is practically not inferior to physical ones. However, such projects usually do not provide savings.

The use of VDI technology (in the case of workstation virtualization) involves replacing the workstation with a thin client. All workstation load is transferred to several servers. The user's work environment is deployed in a virtual infrastructure, and the user's workstation will be a VM.

The price of the issue on the hardware side of the solution comes down to the cost of thin clients (plus a monitor, keyboard, mouse), virtual infrastructure (several servers will be required from the calculation - one server for 2-3 dozen VMs, depending on the software), you will need a separate disk storage. Added to this is the cost of virtualization software (such as VMware), Windows licenses, CALs, VDI licenses, CAD licenses, or other custom software.

As a result, the classical scheme turns out to be the cheapest. And desktop virtualization is actually an expensive technology. This is why it makes sense to contact your VDI provider. This is not only a translation of CAPEX to OPEX, but also a significant saving on a number of the listed articles. Thus, according to various sources , VDI can reduce administration costs by up to 70% and energy costs by 97%.

In particular, VDI "from the cloud" will not only make it possible to abandon the use of powerful workstations and personal computers, but also significantly reduce the number of employees providing technical support by switching to remote administration or IT outsourcing.

According to various sources , VDI can reduce administration costs by up to 70% and energy costs by 97%.

The cost depends on the configuration and the number of users. Here is a rough comparison chart for 50 employees.

IBS DataFort experience As a cloud provider providing vGPU service, we at IBS DataFort distinguish several stages on the way to the formation of our service.  Initially, the company's infrastructure was built on the basis of Cisco UCS and HPE blade servers. We first experimented with GPUs in late 2017, when we purchased an HPE WS460c Gen9 Server Blade with an NVIDIA Tesla M6 expansion slot. As a result of internal stress tests and several demos with potential customers, the card's performance did not meet the specified requirements. In addition, the solution was clearly economically disadvantageous: it did not allow organizing a high density of GPU cards on the server, plus an expansion slot for them occupied an additional slot in the chassis. Among the tasks within which the test was carried out, we note the transcoding of video for one of the federal channels, as well as the digitization and integration of aerial photography for cartographers. The second stage dates back to mid-2018, when we conducted a large-scale study of existing technologies and hardware. First, we analyzed the server GPU cards; The absolute leader in this market, of course, is NVIDIA, but due to the specific licensing policy, the provision of VDI GPU service on their cards looked too expensive and not attractive enough for the market. Therefore, we also tested and worked out the option of organizing the service on AMD FirePro S7150x2 cards. Based on the results of communication with the vendor and studying the documentation, M10, P40 and V100 were selected as target NVIDIA cards. After defining the target cards, we identified the target audience of the service: designers, designers, media employees; and the corresponding list of software they use. Then we conducted various tests based on various benchmarks, where they compared the performance of all cards with different variations of the vGPU profile on the cards (from 1G to 8 / 16G vGPU on VM).  There was a choice of how to deliver the service to the client, and here we settled on a solution from vmware Horizon, MS VDI and Teamviewer. According to the test results, it turned out that MS VDI, as we expected, is not able to "pull" the service and quickly deliver the picture due to the limitations of the RDP protocol. Of the remaining options - Teamviewer and Horizon - both, oddly enough, produced almost identical benchmarks. But thanks to the additional capabilities of Horizon, the presence of an already signed vmware service agreement and the prevalence of this solution in the infrastructure of the customers themselves, they settled on Horizon.  From the point of view of cards, it turned out to be surprising that AMD models, with identical profile settings, etc., slightly outperformed similar NVIDIA cards in most parameters. But again, due to the prevalence of NVIDIA cards on the market and among customers, it makes more sense to provide the service on them. Also, an important role was played by the fact that most applications have integration with CUDA libraries, and their presence was one of the requirements for most cases. According to the results of all tests, at the end of 2018, a vmware Horizon bundle + NVIDIA M10 and P40 cards became a working option. We decided not to use V100 cards, because they are more applicable to big data and data science - areas in which we still have few queries.  IBS DataFort conducted testing and distribution of software broken down by cards.  In terms of the rest of the hardware, the choice fell on exclusively rack-servers Cisco UCS (why not blades, see above), which make it possible to install from two to six NVIDIA cards in one case. This allows you to organize VDI with a high density of workplaces on the server, but at the same time imposes its own limitations and requirements for the power supply and heat dissipation for the data center, where all this is installed. At this point, we finalized the formation of the service and released it to the market.  We are currently looking for a niche where IBS DataFort makes the most efficient use of the NVIDIA T4 card, released in late 2018 - early 2019. This card is optimized to the maximum in terms of power consumption, heat dissipation and the space it occupies in the server (one PCI footprint instead of two, like the M10 and P40). The novelty is able to solve issues with electronic signature and a relatively low density of cards per server (arises when using the same M10 and P40).  Thus, for IBS DataFort, working with T4 is an opportunity to design a solution that is more attractive in terms of price and performance than we previously offered the market.

Instead of output

Virtual workplaces are centralization and protection of user data, the ability to quickly and cost-effectively connect new users, for example, when expanding a company, eliminating downtime in the event of equipment failure (you can immediately resume work on another device without losing data. Can be integrated and standardized business processes in remote branches, to standardize and unify workplaces, to increase the stability of work processes The main thing is to choose a reliable provider with suitable tariff plans .