Due out in about two weeks, Nvidia's Grid 2.0, the latest iteration of the chipmaker's virtualization software, brings two times the performance of its predecessor and supports two more platforms.
Nvidia Grid 2.0's support for 128 users per server is double the capacity of the first version of the graphics processing platform, which was released last year. Grid 2.0 uses the latest version of Nvidia's Maxwell GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) architecture, which gives the virtualization platform twice the application performance of last year's version of the platform.
Nvidia also expanded Grid to give IT execs more flexibility with regard to virtual desktop deployment and application compatibility. Grid 2.0 also supports blade servers and Linux applications.
"NVIDIA GRID technology enables employees to do their best work regardless of the device they use or where they are located. This is the future of enterprise computing," stated Nvidia Co-Founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang. "Industry leaders around the world are embracing NVIDIA GRID to provide their employees access to even the most graphics-intensive workflows on any device, right from the data center," said Huang.
Ahead of its Sept. 15 launch, over a dozen companies have already been testing out Grid 2.0 and have been providing feedback to Nvidia.
For aerospace conglomerate Textron, Nvidia Grid has streamlined its data usage and cut its need replicate data at remote campuses, said Textron's Fred Devoir, senior architect and IT infrastructure manager. Engineers can run various design and analysis application using Grid, he said.
"With the latest 2.0 release, we've been able to double the number of concurrent users per GPU or increase the maximum amount of video memory which allows a greater array of applications to be used without a compromise in performance," Devoir said. "I am excited about the potential of enabling these capabilities for even more design and manufacturing engineers."
To coax more enterprises into adopting Grid, Nvidia is offering a test drive of the platform. The test drive allows users to try out virtualized 2D and 3D applications that includes industry heavyweights Autodesk AutoCAD, Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS, Esri ArcGIS Pro and Siemens NX.
