XenApp and XenDesktop

HDX 3D Pro

The HDX 3D Pro capabilities of XenApp and XenDesktop enable you to deliver desktops and applications that perform best using a graphics processing unit (GPU) for hardware acceleration. These applications include 3D professional graphics applications based on OpenGL and DirectX. The standard VDA supports GPU acceleration of DirectX only. For more information about choosing the standard or HDX 3D Pro VDA, see “Step 5. Choose whether to enable HDX 3D Pro mode” in the Install VDAs article.

All supported Citrix Receivers can be used with 3D graphics. For best performance with complex 3D workloads, high-resolution monitors, multi-monitor configurations, and high frame rate applications, we recommend the latest versions of Citrix Receiver for Windows and Citrix Receiver for Linux. For more information on supported versions of Citrix Receiver, see Lifecycle Milestones for Citrix Receiver.

Examples of 3D professional applications include:

  • Computer-aided design, manufacturing, and engineering (CAD/CAM/CAE) applications
  • Geographical Information System (GIS) software
  • Picture Archiving Communication System (PACS) for medical imaging
  • Applications using the latest OpenGL, DirectX, NVIDIA CUDA, and OpenCL and WebGL versions
  • Computationally intensive non-graphical applications that use NVIDIA Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) GPUs for parallel computing

HDX 3D Pro provides the best user experience over any bandwidth:

  • On WAN connections: Deliver an interactive user experience over WAN connections with bandwidths as low as 1.5 Mbps.

  • On LAN connections: Deliver a user experience equivalent to that of a local desktop on LAN connections.

    You can replace complex and expensive workstations with simpler user devices by moving the graphics processing into the data center for centralized management.

HDX 3D Pro provides GPU acceleration for Windows Desktop OS machines and Windows Server OS machines. For more information, see GPU acceleration for Windows Desktop OS and GPU acceleration for Windows Server OS.

HDX 3D Pro is compatible with GPU passthrough and GPU virtualization technologies offered by the following hypervisors, in addition to bare metal:

  • Citrix XenServer
    • GPU passthrough with NVIDIA GRID and Intel GVT-d
    • GPU virtualization with NVIDIA GRID and Intel GVT-g
  • Microsoft Hyper V
    • GPU passthrough (Discrete Device Assignment) with NVIDIA GRID and AMD
  • VMware vSphere
    • GPU passthrough (vDGA) with NVIDIA GRID, Intel, and AMD IOMMU
    • GPU virtualization with NVIDIA GRID and AMD MxGPU

For the supported XenServer versions, see Citrix XenServer Hardware Compatibility List.

Use the HDX Monitor tool to validate the operation and configuration of HDX visualization technologies and to diagnose and troubleshoot HDX issues. To download the tool and learn more about it, see https://taas.citrix.com/hdx/download/.

HDX 3D Pro

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