We're talking about remote graphics in this series. We've outlined the potential benefits for CAD users and the reduced hardware costs, and now we're going talk about the benefits for the heavy-duty 3D users.
Why Would You Need Remote Graphics for Heavy Duty 3D CAD?
In a word: security. With remote graphics solutions that include hardware accelerated PCoIP technologies (like the RG220), all transmissions are encrypted 128-bit AES. The data resides on the server and graphics card and never is at risk for theft (inadvertent or intentional) from the local machine. If the projects your company handles are super top secret, the IT admin can enable user authentication and peripheral (USB) authorization or even opt for zero clients without USB ports.
Think about engineering companies who do projects for government or large defense manufacturers. These sites might have hundreds of user and security truly matters. Remote graphics give high performance, but eliminates many security issues.
For highest performance, one remote graphics card is mapped to one thin client. The levels of performance in this kind of 1:1 scenario is basically about 90% what you can do on a FirePro V7800 (the pre-Cayman architecture). So to be realistic about expectations, this is not top of the line performance, but it is more than adequate for many 3D projects. The big gain is security.
Reduce Time Servicing and Managing Systems
Imagine you have 100 employees doing basic CAD. With remote graphics, from a central location you can push out software updates, even while employees are working on the system.
For example, there is oil and gas company in Canada using the FirePro RG220 to push out computing set ups to remote oil prospecting sites up to 100 miles away. Because the cards use full PCoIP hardware display compression/security encryption, they provide fast connections with minimal latency that can tackle moderately complex 3D designs/GIS analyses.
In our final post, we'll discuss sustainability advantages with remote graphics.
Author: Tony DeYoung
