Enterprises will be able to experience the full benefit of remote access to rich graphics applications using VMware Horizon 6 and vSphere 6 with NVIDIA GRID vGPU, NVIDIA and VMware announced today.

More than 300 customers have already experienced the increased productivity of virtualized remote graphics under an early access program conducted over the past five months by the companies. This gave access to GRID vGPU technology, which allows data center GPUs to be shared across multiple users - enabling greater density and scalability.

Customer feedback showed that NVIDIA GRID vGPU with VMware Horizon 6, built on vSphere, enhances desktop virtualization with immersive graphics, greater security for mission-critical data, scalable performance and cost-effectiveness.

Among the benefits of enterprise graphics virtualization with VMware Horizon 6 and vSphere: 

• Ability for designers, architects and engineers to run the most advanced, graphics-rich applications in a virtualized environment - using NVIDIA professional graphics and certified application drivers.
• Flexibility for IT departments to support as many as 96 users on a single industry-standard server.
• Cost-effective virtualized graphics for workers who don't require maximum GPU performance but whose applications benefit from GPU acceleration.
• Support for end users to run immersive, graphics-rich Windows 2D, 3D and media-rich graphics applications on essentially any device through the use of VMware Horizon 6. This brings workstation-class performance to remote and mobile workers, even over the high-latency networks.

 As a follow on to the early access initiative, NVIDIA and VMware will be launching their Direct Access Program. Enterprises will be able to quickly adopt VMware Horizon 6 and vSphere 6 with GRID vGPU technology, aided by advisory and technical support from the two companies. 

"Bringing great computing experiences to users is at the heart of what we do," said Jeff Brown, vice president and general manager of Professional Visualization and Design at NVIDIA. "GRID vGPU unlocks the promise of virtualized desktops by bringing the best graphics performance to the industry's leading virtualization platform. This supports new and emerging use cases for desktop virtualization."

"The mobile cloud is transforming traditional enterprise desktops and applications, and our collaboration with NVIDIA extends the transformation to high-end workstations and applications so organizations can benefit from the mobile cloud era," said Erik Frieberg, vice president of marketing for End-User Computing at VMware. "Specialized industries such as design agencies, automotive companies and architecture firms will be able to embrace business mobility to help retain talent, control costs and compete in the 21^st century."

Wide Benefit for Enterprises

These new graphics virtualization capabilities are expected to have widespread impact.

VMware is the leader in virtualization, with more than 500,000 customers worldwide. NVIDIA is the world leader in visual computing, with more than 12 million professional users and 300 professional applications certified and accelerated by NVIDIA GPUs. NVIDIA GRID-based servers are sold and supported by more than 20 leading enterprise solution providers, including Cisco, Dell, HP and Lenovo.

"The use of rich 3D graphics on virtual desktops was a barrier to some organizations as the user experience was less than satisfactory. NVIDIA's GRID vGPU removes this barrier and effectively enables IT managers to virtualize a whole new class of users," said Roy Illsley, principal analyst at Ovum. "Ovum considers that NVIDIA GRID vGPU with VMware Horizon and vSphere will allow the market to expand for virtualization and accelerate enterprise adoption of desktop virtualization in 2015."

VMware and NVIDIA's early access program, launched at VMworld in August 2014, included a range of enterprise and public-sector customers, as well as educational institutions. Among them are University of Southern California and Villanova University; leading manufacturers, such as Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Nifco and Siemens Wind Power; global architecture firms, such as AECOM, CH2MHILL, Populous and STV, Inc.; and defense and aerospace systems provider Raytheon.

Positive Customer Reaction

"Our testing shows VMware Horizon with NVIDIA GRID provides high-end, desktop-grade graphics to support CAD applications on VDI. This has been one of the last hurdles to offering a complete VDI ecosystem.   Beyond the traditional arguments for VDI solutions, such as total cost of ownership, security and management, we'll also gain benefits specific to our work." -  Wesley Struble, CAD system administrator, North American Information Technology Services, DENSO International America, Inc.

"We expect in the near future that the healthcare industry will see 40-60 percent of clinical users running applications that require GRID vGPU. The ability of the NVIDIA and VMware solution will allow sharing one NVIDIA GRID card dynamically across any application mix requesting vGPUs on all VMware Horizon 6 sessions running on the server will mean reduced total cost of ownership and new cost savings." - Aivars Apsite, technology strategist, Metro Health

"NVIDIA GRID vGPU technology within VMware Horizon 6 on vSphere will be a real game changer for us. It offers the flexibility and productivity we need for our workforce. And it enables our designers to work on projects and collaborate with remote teams from any location. The new flexibility will be a huge gain. Without it, VDI would not have been an option for our company." -       Shaula Zanchi, operations partner, Robin Partington Partners

"Our experience with NVIDIA GRID vGPU and VMware Horizon on vSphere has been incredibly positive. We look forward to sharing a single GPU across multiple users without any sacrifice in compatibility or user experience. Plus, we'll be able to better allocate computer resources to drive higher user density on each vSphere host." - Michael S. Goay, executive director of Information Technology, USC Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California

Enterprise Customer Direct Access Program

The new NVIDIA GRID vGPU on VMware Horizon 6 and vSphere 6 Direct Access program will provide select VMware Horizon and VMware vSphere customers who meet certain qualifications with priority access to NVIDIA's enterprise graphics virtualization experts and VMware's solution architects. Participants in the program will benefit from an experience designed to accelerate their desktop transformation initiative, and then move from VDI pilots into scalable production deployments.

In addition, participants in the direct access program will receive other benefits, such as invitations to exclusive community forums and training, and the ability to evaluate new technologies while providing direct input to influence future enterprise virtualization products.

NVIDIA, VMware and their customers will provide in-depth case studies, technical training and product demonstrations of NVIDIA GRID vGPU on VMware Horizon 6 and VMware vSphere 6 and other NVIDIA enterprise graphics virtualization solutions at the Graphics Virtualization Track during the annual GPU Technology Conference on March 17-20 in San Jose, Calif.

General availability of the solutions is expected later this quarter.