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VDI for 3D rendering, and thinanywhere

Hiya,

Has anyone trialled, or is anyone using, VDI with 3D rendering apps? I've head of something called "thinanywhere" which can help with performance but would like to discuss experience with someone who's used it before doing a pilot myself.

Thanks,

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thinkthin
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Hi,

I recently went looking for a solution to allow a OpenGL graphics app to work in VDI, I tested ThinAnywhere and unfortunately their solution is for Terminal Server or ICA. The product seamed OK but required the older .NET 1.0. I tried to install this on a XP Pro desktop and it would not work.

It did work OK on a Terminal Server with a OpenGL Graphics card although the resolutions its supports was quite specific.

As for RDP6 its my understanding the 3D support is not available until Server 2008 nd its for DirectX not openGL but I may be wrong as I have not tested it. I would love to hear of a Software OpenGL solution for VDI if anyone has tried one,

Cheers,

-TT

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mreferre
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Last week I met a customer that was using Thinanywhere to display a heavy 3D graphic application to a remote site. They used to have remote graphic workstations but they found not practical to move around these HUGE files around the world hence started using thinanywhere. They dramatically lowered bandwidth requirements but on the other hand the end-user experience dropped (drammatically?).

They now want to give the IBM HC10 Workstation blade even though the bandwidth requirement for 3D appl is not very "thin" plus it requires latency to be within certain values.

I don't knw Thinanyware ...... that is what I have heard. Others might have had better experiences.

Massimo.

Massimo Re Ferre' VMware vCloud Architect twitter.com/mreferre www.it20.info
sgrinker
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Citrix has some strong features for 3D available through ICA now when connecting to Presentation Server. Not available yet to a desktop though, due to the current need for a double hop from ICA to RDP. However, the release for the "Port ICA" project will be out sometime early next year in it's production release, which will allow for a direct ICA connection to a desktop. That in turn should give much better performance to a remote desktop in the 3D rendering arena.

I don't have any experience with "thinanywhere" though either.

TomHowarth
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What upsets me the most about this is that Wyse had a version of PortICA licensed form Citrix in the late Nineties, which was run on a server, I sucessfuly installed it on a 2000 pro workstation and had full access to my work desktop via ICA thought a Nfuse/CSG gateway. it was only an early release of ICA technology (circa 1.8) but it was a darn sight better than using RDP:)

So in reality I can not understand the reasons as to why it has taken Citrix so long to get this product to market. It was originally thought it would be out be iForum but that has not come to fruition. It would go down a storm in the VDI market space. (so long as they got their licensing correct). I have heard rumours that is to be concurency based which will be good, but as to pricing I have no Idea.

Kind Regards

Tom,

Tom Howarth VCP / VCAP / vExpert
VMware Communities User Moderator
Blog: http://www.planetvm.net
Contributing author on VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment
Contributing author on VCP VMware Certified Professional on VSphere 4 Study Guide: Exam VCP-410
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sgrinker
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Tom

I do agree that it has definitely taken some time since we've all heard the term "Port ICA" floating around, and I too thought it would have been out by now. I think there are a number of things that play into the timeframe though, and most of which make sense as a reason things were delayed.

- New feature sets for ICA that should be released next year (check for Project Apollo) that allow for practically a true Vista experience. Plus much better compression with Video/Audio, to the point that you can get better than the current "high" setting for the current bandwidth of the "low" setting.

- Marketing strategy for the entire "package" surrounding the release.

- Licensing, as no TSCal is required anymore when used to a workstation. I'm sure they needed to sort all of that out with Microsoft.

All that said though, I would have gladly taken a current instance of ICA a few months ago with a smaller feature set. I'm not 100% sure what the reasons are behind the time for this to come out, but I am definitely looking forward to see the results when it does.

Thanks again

Steve

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davlloyd
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You can get 3D support through RDP 6.0 although this requires a Vista or Server 2008 guest and client combination. The problem with thin clients are they are all based on RDP 5.2 or prior so do not have the capability as yet. Afraid that the only other alternate options are ICA or downthe Blade path as has been raised elsewhere.

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thinkthin
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Hi,

I recently went looking for a solution to allow a OpenGL graphics app to work in VDI, I tested ThinAnywhere and unfortunately their solution is for Terminal Server or ICA. The product seamed OK but required the older .NET 1.0. I tried to install this on a XP Pro desktop and it would not work.

It did work OK on a Terminal Server with a OpenGL Graphics card although the resolutions its supports was quite specific.

As for RDP6 its my understanding the 3D support is not available until Server 2008 nd its for DirectX not openGL but I may be wrong as I have not tested it. I would love to hear of a Software OpenGL solution for VDI if anyone has tried one,

Cheers,

-TT

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