7.0

Configuring 3D Rendering for Desktops
When you create or edit a desktop pool of virtual machines, you can configure 3D graphics rendering for
your desktops. Desktops can take advantage of Virtual Shared Graphics Acceleration (vSGA), Virtual
Dedicated Graphics Acceleration (vDGA), or shared GPU hardware acceleration (NVIDIA GRID vGPU).
vDGA and NVIDIA GRID vGPU are vSphere features that use physical graphics cards installed on the ESXi
hosts and manage the graphics processing unit (GPU) resources among the virtual machines.
NOTE This feature is not available to instant clones in Horizon 7.0.
End users can take advantage of 3D applications for design, modeling, and multimedia, which typically
require GPU hardware to perform well. For users that do not require physical GPU, a software option
provides graphics enhancements that can support less demanding applications such as Windows AERO,
Microsoft Office, and Google Earth. Following are brief descriptions of the 3D graphics options:
NVIDIA GRID vGPU
(shared GPU hardware
acceleration)
Available with vSphere 6.0 and later, this feature allows a physical GPU on
an ESXi host to be shared among virtual machines. This feature offers flexible
hardware-accelerated 3D profiles ranging from lightweight 3D task workers
to high-end workstation graphics power users.
AMD Multiuser GPU
using vDGA
Available with vSphere 6.0 and later, this feature allows multiple virtual
machines to share an AMD GPU by making the GPU appear as multiple PCI
passthrough devices. This feature offers flexible hardware-accelerated 3D
profiles, ranging from lightweight 3D task workers to high-end workstation
graphics power users.
Virtual Dedicated
Graphics Acceleration
(vDGA)
Available with vSphere 5.5 and later, this feature dedicates a single physical
GPU on an ESXi host to a single virtual machine. Use this feature if you
require high-end, hardware-accelerated workstation graphics.
NOTE Some Intel vDGA cards require a certain vSphere 6 version. See the
VMware Hardware Compatibility List at
http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php. Also, for Intel
vDGA, the Intel integrated GPU is used rather than discrete GPUs, as is the
case with other vendors.
Virtual Shared Graphics
Acceleration (vSGA)
Available with vSphere 5.1 and later, this feature allows multiple virtual
machines to share the physical GPUs on ESXi hosts. This feature is suitable
for mid-range 3D design, modeling, and multimedia applications.
Soft 3D
Software-accelerated graphics, available with vSphere 5.0 and later, allows
you to run DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2.1 applications without requiring a
physical GPU. Use this feature for less demanding 3D applications such as
Windows Aero themes, Microsoft Office 2010, and Google Earth.
Because NVIDIA GRID vGPU, AMD Multiuser GPU using vDGA, and all vDGA solutions use PCI pass-
through on the ESXi host, live VMotion is not supported. vSGA and Soft 3D support live VMotion.
In some cases, if an application such as a video game or 3D benchmark forces the desktop to display in full
screen resolution, the desktop session can be disconnected. Possible workarounds include setting the
application to run in Windowed mode or matching the View session desktop resolution to the default
resolution expected by the application.
Chapter 12 Provisioning Desktop Pools
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