NVIDIA Unveils Industry's First Visual Computing Appliance

[btarunr]

NVIDIA today introduced the industry's first visual computing appliance -- enabling businesses to deliver ultra-fast GPU performance to any Windows, Linux or Mac client on their network.

The NVIDIA GRID Visual Computing Appliance (VCA) is a powerful GPU-based system that runs complex applications such as those from Adobe Systems Incorporated, Autodesk and Dassault Systèmes, and sends their graphics output over the network to be displayed on a client computer. This remote GPU acceleration gives users the same rich graphics experience they would get from an expensive, dedicated PC under their desk.



NVIDIA GRID VCA provides enormous flexibility to small and medium-size businesses with limited IT infrastructures. Their employees can, through the simple click of an icon, create a virtual machine called a workspace. These workspaces -- which are, effectively, dedicated, high-performance GPU-based systems -- can be added, deleted or reallocated as needed.
"NVIDIA GRID VCA is the first product to provide businesses with convenient, on-demand visual computing," said Jen-Hsun Huang, co-founder and chief executive officer, NVIDIA. "Design firms, film studios and other businesses can now give their creative teams access to graphics-intensive applications with uncompromised performance, flexibility and simplicity."

NVIDIA GRID VCA is an easy-to-install, easy-to-manage 4U appliance. Its 16 NVIDIA GPUs and NVIDIA GRID VGX software provide NVIDIA Quadro-class graphics performance for up to 16 concurrent users, with low latency, high resolution and maximum interactivity for unparalleled quality of service.

Industry Support for NVIDIA GRID VCA
"We've had enormous success using remote GPU acceleration on our content-creation applications," said James Fox, chief executive officer at Dawnrunner, a San Francisco-based film production company. "Thanks to NVIDIA GRID VCA, we don't spend weeks configuring workstations and transcoding files and projects. Instead, we have more time to deliver a higher quality product for our customers. And we can take on new projects with tighter deadlines."

"Performance is important for creative professionals, and our long-standing relationship with NVIDIA has assured they are able to work with images and videos in a much faster, smoother, more engaging way," said Shantanu Narayen, president and chief executive officer, Adobe. "NVIDIA and Adobe have a shared goal of providing our customers with the latest technology advancements with flexible deployment options so they can focus on their jobs and have more time to be creative. The innovative advancements in virtualization introduced today with the NVIDIA GRID is an exciting new direction that underscores that commitment."
"NVIDIA GRID VCA enhances the design experience for SolidWorks users from any PC or Mac," said Bertrand Sicot, chief executive officer, SolidWorks, Dassault Systèmes. "With centralized access to fast GPUs, designers can more quickly and easily deliver high-quality 3D models."

"NVIDIA GRID VCA will provide tremendous functionality and performance for our small business customers," said Carl Bass, president and chief executive officer, Autodesk. "It delivers easy, high performance GPU access to our applications for the highest quality design and visualization experience."

Pricing and Availability
Available in the United States in May from authorized value-added resellers, NVIDIA GRID VCA is offered in 8 GPU or 16 GPU configurations, with pricing starting at $24,900, plus an annual software license of $2,400. More information is available at www.nvidia.com/vca.

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[RejZoR]

Could be this also used as a CUDA crunching system? I know one virus lab (AVAST Software) which is using a custom built system consisting of 4 high end NVIDIA graphic cards which they use to sort and analyze malware along with the usual racked CPU machines. This system above has 16 GPU's so that could be interesting. And since they run their own custom software, they would not need the extra 2400 dollar license fee.

 

[Xzibit]

The price is starting at $24,900 + SW license $2,400. I doubt they will sell it by itself and if they do it will be at a premium and buy it "as is".

So expected life cycle multiply SW license $2,400 per year for the 16 GPU its $4,800 per year and you might get an idea of the "as is" price if there willing to sell it to companies like that.

 

[racedaemon]

The press release is somewhat confusing. They state:

Its 16 NVIDIA GPUs and NVIDIA GRID VGX software provide NVIDIA Quadro-class graphics performance for up to 16 concurrent users.

Meaning 16 GPUs - 16 users, but in the slideshow pictures it says "8/16 Kepler GPUs - 16/32 CPU Threads". Does that mean a 16 GPU system supports 16 users or 32?

But considering that a Quadro K4000 is $1269 i don't see the VGX system being competitively priced in any configuration. You could buy 21 Quadro K4000 cards for the price of a 8 card VGX and 35 K4000 for the price of the 16 card variant.

 

[Disparia]

Meaning 16 GPUs - 16 users, but in the slideshow pictures it says "8/16 Kepler GPUs - 16/32 CPU Threads". Does that mean a 16 GPU system supports 16 users or 32?

But considering that a Quadro K4000 is $1269 i don't see the VGX system being competitively priced in any configuration. You could buy 21 Quadro K4000 cards for the price of a 8 card VGX and 35 K4000 for the price of the 16 card variant.

This particular solution is for up to 16 users with moderate graphic needs. They'd each get a dedicated GPU and 2-4 CPU threads.

As for price, it was reached by being comparing to other turnkey solutions. If you think in terms of per-part prices, this is not for you