Please help me with a small ESXi project

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nk215

Active Member
Oct 6, 2015
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Hi guys,

I would like to be able to edit video on remote computers using Vegas and some Photoshop. I also like to experiment with virtualization. I am not even in computer field so please explain to me what I need in layman term.

So far, I have:

+ A dual x5650 server with 24Gig ram
+ 10Gbit networking
+ Quadro 4000
+ vShere 5.5 on the dual x5650 server with standard license.
+ vShere client 5.5U2 thick client
+ 2 Win7 VM for test using hardware version 9

vSGA works fine. When I open console screen on the Win7 VM guest and run windows benchmark, I get WEI of 6 on the graphic. “gpuvm” reports 250M reserved for each VM. xorg runs etc. Right now, I connect to the VM via RemoteFX (for sound) or “console” via vShere thick client or “remote console”. None of the “console” mode give me sound. Only RemoteFX has sound on my remote computer.

I want to move up a step from here and am looking into GRID k1/k2 (most likely k2) or FirePro S9000 for vDGA.

What do I need? I read about horizon view, zero client but have no idea what they are and what they need. What do I need to try out horizon view or zero client? Please give me the hardware and software list that I need. Cheaper is better but if I must buy a license then I can get do it.

Again, I am not in computer/IT field. So please minimize the use of abbreviations so I can google further.

Thanks
 

markarr

Active Member
Oct 31, 2013
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You can sign up for a 60 day trial of Horizon, if you like it then you can pay a $200 yearly subscription for Vmug which will get you the latest version of, horizon, esxi, vsphere, and vsan.

If you don't want to setup the whole horizon suite, then you can install the view agent and then the direct connection agent on the vm and then connect to that individual vm directly without the connection server. As far as the hardware you can either use the software client on any machine or buy a zero client with a teradici 2 or newer chip.
 
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nk215

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Oct 6, 2015
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I would like to start simple and low cost and move up from there if needed.

I would like to go down the path of view agent and direct connection agent a try.

It looks like I can’t download just the view agent and view agent direct connection from VMware. Are they part of the horizon 6 suit? Will there be any issue between horizon 6 and vShere 5.5? If I only need view agent & direct connection, do I need to pay for the entire suit or the $200 annual fee (you said above).

From my quick research, it seems like I’ll need to install view agent and view agent direct on the guest Win7 OS.

What do I use to log onto the guest OS from the remote computer then?

Thanks
 

markarr

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Oct 31, 2013
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You will have to sign up for the Horzion suite trial. If just using the view agent and direct connection then it does not matter which vsphere you have. According to the TOS you do but the direct connection agent eliminates the need for the Connection server. The agents that are installed on the guest os do not check in with any licensing server.

Yes both will be installed on the guest computer you want to connect to.

You can use the horizon client on any os or use a zero client and connect to the computer directly.
 
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nk215

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Oct 6, 2015
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Got it. I'll get the horizon suit trial and give it a go. I'll come back with more question. Thank you very much
 

whitey

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Jun 30, 2014
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Better look into the whole stack/suite and vGPU (heck w/ dVGA) if you're lookin' at a K1/K2. Stack session based on how agressive you are w/ vGPU (virtual GPU passthru) assignment per VM. We do HIGH-END engineering VDI on this setup at work, works a treat. I also have this whole infra stood up at home (minus the quadro 4000 which I need an adapter for) but the VDI stuff for PS (wife is a resource HOG photoshop user) works great.

You can get by with a software Horizon client (I think 3.4 is latest) but a zero client will make you wanna use nothing else (typing this on a Horizon delivered session on a t310 zero client). HP t310 for zero client in my book unless you need 4 monitors then a wyse P45 last I checked. Been getting t310's for $60-80 on ebay.

Licensing avail via bribes...hahah I kid.
 

RyC

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Oct 17, 2013
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Do you recommend the Quadro 4000 for starting out with vSGA/vDGA? Are you running into performance issues or just feel like upgrading to a K1/K2? I want to experiment with vSGA/vDGA but I'm on a very tight budget :(
 

nk215

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Oct 6, 2015
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whitey,

Are you talking about license for the zero-client hardware? (I don't even know such a thing exist until a few days ago). Beside from the HP t310 box, what else do I need to get this box up and running?

RyC. The only draw back on the Quadro 4000 is that it's not supported under ESXi 6.0. Basically, 5.5 is the latest you can make it work with Quadro 4000. I am not even sure if Quadro 4000 can be use with vDGA under ESXi 5.5. I know that vSGA works.
 

whitey

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Jun 30, 2014
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Do you recommend the Quadro 4000 for starting out with vSGA/vDGA? Are you running into performance issues or just feel like upgrading to a K1/K2? I want to experiment with vSGA/vDGA but I'm on a very tight budget :(
Have not deployed my Quadro 4000 yet but from my research the Quadro 4000 will work with vSGA/vDGA/vGPU (the last being the latest and greatest and lets you allocate true GPU memory per VM...not a single VM per card like vDGA). Not supported and 'will work but not supportted' are two entirely different things...just like my LSI 2008 based 9211's/Dell Perc 310's are not on the vSAN HCL but they sure as hell work very well to drive a vSAN config.
 

RyC

Active Member
Oct 17, 2013
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Thanks for the info, I'll try to research a lower cost Quadro that still works with ESXi 6.0 (Quadro K2000 maybe?). To bring the thread a little more back on topic, my casual conversations with ITS at the local university here confirm what's been said already about getting Horizon View set up!
 

nk215

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Oct 6, 2015
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for ESXi, your options are limited to the grid cards. Nvidia does not have drivers for the quadro cards for ESXI 6. I loaded the vib file for ESXi 6 hoping that my Quadro 4000 would work. No luck at all.

I tried vSGA, with horizon client/view agent/direct connection setup per markarr instruction above. It works, I can see the GPU utilizations goes up as high as 40% (nvidia-smi -l command). However, the overall performance is still not where I wanted. There's definitely a lag/delay.

At the current price a gird card is almost 10 times a quadro4000 card. Since I only need 2-3 VMs with graphic at the most. It may be cheaper to get a few quadro cards and do a vDGA. Each quadro 4000 card uses around 80Watts I think.
 

markarr

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Oct 31, 2013
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for ESXi, your options are limited to the grid cards. Nvidia does not have drivers for the quadro cards for ESXI 6. I loaded the vib file for ESXi 6 hoping that my Quadro 4000 would work. No luck at all.

I tried vSGA, with horizon client/view agent/direct connection setup per markarr instruction above. It works, I can see the GPU utilizations goes up as high as 40% (nvidia-smi -l command). However, the overall performance is still not where I wanted. There's definitely a lag/delay.

At the current price a gird card is almost 10 times a quadro4000 card. Since I only need 2-3 VMs with graphic at the most. It may be cheaper to get a few quadro cards and do a vDGA. Each quadro 4000 card uses around 80Watts I think.
You could try this. Since the Grid GPU's are just ridiculous in price.

VMware View vSGA with a Nvidia GT640 in a Dell C1100 ← Moatspodgery

He converts a GT640 into a K1 with some soldering. Seems to work for him.
 

nk215

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Oct 6, 2015
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I played with vDGA and it works very well. Much better than the vSGA mode. I decided to get 3 more cards. 3 are for vDGA, one is for vSGA. Photoshop does not stress the Quadro 4000 at all. For some reason, I have weird artifacts on some of my mkv files under vSGA.

I gave the Grid K1 alot of thought. I would love to have 4 vDGA on a 130 watts card. its price is just 2X more than what it should cost.

Modding a GT640 into a Grid K1 for vSGA to save around $100 (vs quadro 4000 in vSGA) is not quite worth it for me. However I just bought that card from ebay to see if vGPU would work (i am pretty sure it won't). Most likely, I'll destroy it the mod but for $60, I'll take the experience.
 

archangel.dmitry

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Sep 11, 2015
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US
I don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but does anybody know if GTX680 with hard mod to K2 supports vGPU? I couldn't find any relevant information...
 

nk215

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Oct 6, 2015
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vGPU won't work for mod cards to K1 and K2 grids. I read that in the eevblog forums.