
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. Use this feature for less demanding 3D applications such as Windows Aero themes, Microsoft Office 2010, and Google Earth.īecause 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. VSphere 5.0 and later, allows you to run DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2.1 applications without requiring a physical GPU.

Software-accelerated graphics, available with This feature is suitable for mid-range 3D design, modeling, and multimedia applications. VSphere 5.1 and later, this feature allows multiple virtual machines to share the physical GPUs on ESXi hosts. Virtual Shared Graphics Acceleration (vSGA) Also, for Intel vDGA, the Intel integrated GPU is used rather than discrete GPUs, as is the case with other vendors.

See the VMware Hardware Compatibility List at Note: Some Intel vDGA cards require a certain vSphere 6 version. Use this feature if you require high-end, hardware-accelerated workstation graphics. VSphere 5.5 and later, this feature dedicates a single physical GPU on an ESXi host to a single virtual machine. Virtual Dedicated Graphics Acceleration (vDGA) This feature offers flexible hardware-accelerated 3D profiles, ranging from lightweight 3D task workers to high-end workstation graphics power users. 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. VSphere 6.0 and later, this feature allows a physical GPU on an ESXi host to be shared among virtual machines.

Following are brief descriptions of the 3D graphics options: NVIDIA GRID vGPU (shared GPU hardware acceleration) 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. 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.Įnd users can take advantage of 3D applications for design, modeling, and multimedia, which typically require GPU hardware to perform well. Desktops can take advantage of Virtual Shared Graphics Acceleration (vSGA), Virtual Dedicated Graphics Acceleration (vDGA), or shared GPU hardware acceleration (NVIDIA GRID vGPU). When you create or edit a desktop pool of virtual machines, you can configure 3D graphics rendering for your desktops.
