March 17, 2014, at GTC, San Jose, CA—Dan O'Farrell from Dell introduced the Dell Precision Appliance for Wyse virtual workstation. This end-end offering provides a virtual desktop that provides workstation users an alternative to dedicated workstations for graphics-heavy workloads.
The virtual workstations use Dell workstation designs from the Precision product line with dedicated GPU pass-through and shared Nvidia Grid vGPU processors. The fully integrated system starts with a Rack 7910 workstation, Nvidia Quadro and Grid GPU technologies, Teradici PCoIP remote workstation technology, and VMware virtualization.
The system offers access for up to three users for dedicated Quadra GPUs or four to eight users in shared mode on Grid cards. The users can connect from any end-point device that handles IP communications. The two-rack appliance is fully integrated and certified configurations for various workstation-class software tools. The use of the PCoIP stack allows for a zero-client stack to improve throughput.
The virtual, remote workstations that result from this system provide a number of benefits for the IT department. The single appliance is easier to plan, deploy, run, and manage with limited staff or low-experience with virtual systems. Centralizing the workstations makes security easier, helps to protect valuable intellectual property, and reduces complexity. The centralization of the compute and storage facilitates collaboration within the high-end design groups.
The first vertical markets for this hardware include energy exploration, media and entertainment, and aerospace. All of these verticals are making their networks fatter and faster with more and better protocol adapters. The complete package of hardware, software, end points, and consulting services help users to get running on the virtual system and provide a base for building out and scaling the systems.
If the user needs assistance with configurations for different software, the customer services group can help. The underlying apps are not pre-installed to allow for changes in configurations of apps, workstations, and users as workloads change. This set of certified configurations allows for greater flexibility and permits easier integration with existing systems. Pricing will be released in the near future.