What’s New in VDI?
To maintain the pace of business, your customers turned to the cloud. It met their initial needs but they didn’t really understand what that solution would mean long-term. Now as billing rates, data integrity concerns, and security breaches rise companies are re-thinking their cloud-heavy workloads.
Suddenly the idea of on-prem workloads makes sense again.
On-prem VDI can securely support more complex workstreams including tier one workloads and enterprise applications in remote environments. As customers explore VDI solutions and they take a more prominent place in business, VDI sprawl is causing some customers to put a premium on system flexibility and expansion capabilities between network and compute.
That’s where Cisco and NVIDIA step up.
Cisco servers and NVIDIA GPUs are particularly designed to deliver high performance compute for VDI and other use cases, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and edge applications. NVIDIA software solutions, which includes NVIDIA Virtual GPU (vGPU) for graphics and NVIDIA AI Enterprise for AI and compute include tools to help you proactively manage and monitor your virtualized environment and provide continuous uptime with support for the live migration of GPU-accelerated VMs.
With VDI, companies can deliver scalable yet cost-effective server solutions while improving data security. And all while enabling their remote workforce to collaborate in real time without risk, from anywhere, using any device.
The Bottom Line
Software stacks are always growing and changing. If your customer wants to keep their core VDI applications (i.e. VMware or Citrix) current and maximize productivity, they should look to migrate to flexible system technology today.
End-of-Support for M4 Servers: An Opportunity
40, 60, and 75. That’s the combination for success with VDI, Cisco UCS, and NVIDIA GPUs.
40% of Cisco’s base installs will soon hit two key milestones—
- M3 and M4 will reach End-of-Support in 2024
- M5 systems have End-of-Sales in October 2023
60% of enterprises utilize app virtualization as a way to extend legacy apps.
75% of the global workforce will be Millennials by 2025 and they prefer remote work opportunities.
Added together, these numbers equal $17.6B or what the VDI market is expected to be in 2029.
A Win For Customers
There is a huge opportunity here for the customer as well to bring long-term stability to their server stack with Cisco’s M6 and M7 systems using VDI. These systems provide the ability to meet the needs of their remote workforce today while maintaining the downstream integrity of their data streams.
Customer Needs
Today’s customer is driven by the need to:
- Consolidate and replace existing hardware
- Deploy new greenfield solutions
- Reduce the high costs of cloud solutions
Regardless of what’s driving their infrastructure decisions, there are some constants that every IT customer is looking for.
Security
Centrally managed infrastructure, tools, and processes for deploying and securing virtual desktops to employees on multiple endpoints.
Ease of Install
Simple integration between the hardware and software of multiple vendors in addition to proven converged infrastructure solutions that already have the best practices documented for VDI.
Scalability
Scalable infrastructure that ensures high availability of IT services.
Remote Access
The ability to work from any location, on any endpoint, at any time creates a satisfied and more productive workforce.
Bottom Line Success
Higher profitability comes from lower IT infrastructure and management costs along with streamlined productivity solutions.
Opportunities in AI
NVIDIA AI Enterprise software stack makes the transformative power of AI and innovation accessible.
What is VDI?
VDI literally means Virtual Desktop Infrastructure but it also means empowerment. That’s because it gives your customers the ability to create the link they need between a remote workforce and the work that needs done. It lets your customers have, in many ways, the best of both worlds. To do this, VDI hosts desktop images from a server and, using virtualization, distributes those to the workforce, wherever they are.
The benefits of VDI include:
- Simplified image management
- Anywhere, anytime, any device access
- Fast application deployment and upgrades
- Reduced IP loss risk
- Enhanced data security
- Simplified backup, patching, and management
- Instant provisioning of new desktops
VDI: How Your Customer’s Use It
Every company, every worker, has slightly different needs from the server. Customization and modularity of the Cisco UCS means that a VDI installation can meet those needs.
VDI: Use Cases
Common uses of VDI for most organizations include:
Action:
Application Migration
VDI Solution:
- Eases migration crossovers that often require higher performing hardware
- Supports new application versions to enable a more productive workforce
Action:
Virtual Workstation Install
VDI Solution:
- Replaces individual physical graphics workstations with secure virtual workstations
- Delivers equivalent performance (With a performance increase when GPU is enabled)
- Reduces file download time
- Increases productivity
- Keeps intellectual property safe and protected in data center
- Enhances collaboration/geos
Action:
Remote Desktop/Shared Host Environment
VDI Solution:
- Serves task users who do not need a discrete desktop or VM
- Leverages the ability to provide services to 2X the user density per server versus full desktop
- Provides increased functionality to users who work in one or two applications
- Delivers highly economical, secure desktop sessions
NVIDIA GPUs
As the graphics requirements of mainstream applications across industries rise, our customers are faced with the two-pronged challenge of:
1. Addressing the growing demands of an enterprise-wide, unified virtual workspace
AND
2. Satisfying the desire for greater workplace mobility to enhance productivity
All while lowering TCO
The solution might be found in NVIDIA GPUs which can make virtualized workspaces more efficient and effective to an enterprise’s entire workforce anywhere (and everywhere) they work.
NVIDIA GPUs:
- Provide accelerated computing, maximizing efficiency with a simulation first approach
- Ensure remote workflows that can support growth
- Accelerate remote workloads across industries
- Future-proof servers with an easy to scale flexibility
- Are disaster proof with always-on accessibility
- Enhance productivity, mobility, and security
- Enable GPU computing to support enterprise growth in a scalable, cost-effective way
The relevance and importance of GPUs will only continue to grow which is why NVIDIA continues to innovate. NVIDIA’s powerful vGPU technology grants access to high performance graphics processing from a decentralized server, which most VDI solutions exclude. Installed on a physical GPU in an enterprise data center server, NVIDIA vGPU software creates virtual GPUs that can be shared across multiple virtual machines, accessed by any device, anywhere.
NVIDIA’s powerful Virtual GPU solutions, including NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstations (vWS) for Power Users and NVIDIA Virtual PC (vPC) for Knowledge Workers, also powers to high performance graphics processing from a decentralized server while optimizing user experience, which most VDI solutions exclude.
With NVIDIA vWS, the trusted benefits of the RTX visual computing platform deliver a true GPU accelerated data center to power virtual workstations that meet the needs of a dispersed creative workforce. It’s designed to meet the needs of creative and technical applications, connecting designers, engineers, modelers, and architects with their visualization tools in the interface of their desktop with a smooth user experience.
It’s an ideal solution to help IT departments who are faced with the challenge of addressing the growing demands of an enterprise-wide, unified virtual workspace, while also satisfying the need for greater workplace mobility, enhanced productivity, and lower TCO. NVIDIA vGPU brings GPU computing to support enterprise growth in a scalable, cost-effective way and meet the needs of compute intensive workloads.
Your Customers Can Do More With Less
NVIDIA GPUs drive the Cisco x210c M7 which can host 3X M4 or 2X M5 VDI server workloads and provide a 15% desktop support improvement over the x210c M6.
Choose the right GPU for the job
On-Prem vs. Cloud
The cloud helped many companies as they adjusted their business environments to remote work conditions and there are benefits within a cloud environment. But as the work-landscape settles and what was once an anomaly (remote-work) becomes the norm, customers are reassessing their cloud options. What they’re finding is that on-prem servers may have an edge over cloud when it comes to:
Cost Savings
Outside industry analyst ESG estimates that a customer can save between 13% and 35% on their monthly costs* by running VDI desktops vs. cloud-based VDI solutions.
Improved Security Opportunities
Cloud-based servers provided anywhere-access for employees, but this came with the loss of direct data management control for IT teams. Those teams also later discovered that the security profile of the cloud may not match their companies desired settings which meant that for more data-sensitive industries, cloud computing was not a viable long-term option.
Managed Data Control
Some industries have limits to the type of data that can be stored and accessed in the cloud. But remote workers need access to that information to perform. VDI enables remote access while the data stays safely on the premises, behind all necessary firewalls.
VDI Benefits on Cisco UCS and Rack
Your customers can realize the benefits of VDI through Cisco UCS or via rack-based solutions.
Cisco UCS
Cisco UCS can help companies harness VDI for large scale deployments in mid-to-large sized companies. In those environments, Cisco UCS applications can expand quickly as business needs arise. And not just to handle singular data inputs. This server configuration can accommodate additional GPUs to drive complex application renderings and meet specific requirements.
This growth potential allows one Cisco UCS instance to grow into a Converged Infrastructure that can accommodate up to 2,500 users per Cisco UCS chassis with Citrix or VMware Horizon deployments.
All aspects of the system from the node processors through storage can be managed with Cisco Intersight.™
Rack
A rack optimized solution is particularly attractive to power users in companies with less than 1,000 desktops. It’s a budget-sensitive solution that offers companies a level of control without sacrificing compute performance. Rack solutions provide economical opportunities for companies to manage storage density while providing flexibility for network interfacing.
As an additional rack offering, CVD will soon publish FlexPod Express with AMD for VDI.
What Makes Cisco UCS an Exceptional Choice for your Customers?
The key capabilities from our history of deploying virtual desktops have been carried forward into the Cisco UCS with Intersight™
- Always available with a no-single-point-of-failure design
- Increased user productivity with a smooth user experience
- Cloud-managed so that your IT staff isn’t tied to the data center
- Future-ready infrastructure that can accommodate emerging technologies
- VDI users with accelerated, GPU enhanced desktops will have a better experience and be more productive. Adding GPUs to modular, blade servers have never been simpler or quicker. Cisco UCS protects and extends your investment with a modular form factor. You can upgrade only the components that add benefit to your business be it the CPU/ server, I/O, or GPUs.
- Higher desktop density and desktop virtualization sessions per server with Cisco Unified Computing System (Cisco UCS) Modular systems featuring the X210c M7, X210c M6 two socket compute nodes, x410c M7 four socket compute node and X440p GPU node all managed by Cisco Intersight™
- Cisco UCS offers choice of GPUs with a variety of options from NVIDIA like the T4 & L4, the A16, A40, L40 cards with NVIDIA Virtual Applications (vApps), Virtual PC (vPC), and software for Cisco UCS servers. These combinations of hardware and software offer an excellent user experience. Additionally, they provide application responsiveness for designers, educators, researchers, and clinicians who need access to immersive 3D graphics without being tethered to a high-end physical workstation.
UCS Converged Infrastructures for VDI
Normally the customer’s data storage requirements will exceed the internal storage capacity of the Cisco UCS servers and, when this occurs, external storage can be designed into the VDI solution. Often these designs are rigorously tested and documented in Cisco Validated Designs. The two most popular external storage partners are NetApp and Pure Storage.
A complete system with all elements documented via a Cisco Validated Design testing a specific VDI Broker demonstrating best practices showing performance, availability, and automation. Supported by both Cisco and the selected storage partner.
Cisco and NetApp FlexPod
Most versatile and best selling converged infrastructure.
Cisco and Pure Storage FlashStack
Innovative all-flash solution for business critical workloads.
Benefits:
- Less time to implement
- Lower total costs
- Improved performance
- Improved confidence
- Cisco and storage partner support
- Piece of mind and confidence
VDI Converged Infrastructures
Leverage storage partner resources to help you size, position, and sell a Converged Infrastructure for your VDI opportunities. First, determine if the customer prefers NetApp or Pure Storage.
Cisco and NetApp
To locate NetApp Sales Contact:
North America:
Pete Friedman FlexPod Director
Email: peter.friedman@netapp.com
Mobile: +1 650.766.0570
EMEA:
Jeroen Kulderij Cisco Alliance Business Dev. Manager, EMEA
Email: jeroen.kulderij@netapp.com
Mobile: +31 646912889
APAC
Joanne Ong Head of Alliances, APAC
Email: joanne.ong@netapp.com
Mobile: +65 6496 3691
Cisco and Pure Storage
To locate Pure Storage Sales Contact:
Recent FlexPod VDI CVDs:
Recent FlexPod VDI CVDs:
- FlexPod Datacenter with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops with VMware vSphere 7 for up to 2500 Seats
- FlexPod Datacenter using Cisco UCS X-Series with VMware Horizon and VMware vSphere 7 for up to 2600 Seat
- FlexPod Datacenter with X-series M7 with Citrix for 2500 Seats
Cisco and NVIDIA: Better Together
Working together Cisco and NVIDIA deliver a consistent, high-performance user experience. In fact, this partnership has set a standard across the industry as recognized by Dassault Systèmes C-series certification of Cisco’s incorporation of the latest NVIDIA GPUs.
Perhaps the biggest benefit that comes from these two industry leaders working together is the unparalleled acceleration and manageability of their combined systems. And the performance benefits this partnership brings comes at a demonstrably lower cost of ownership.
“(Cisco UCS) X-Series provides a remarkably flexible, scalable, and capable provisioning and management tool for an organization or business that needs it. X-Series...It’s adaptable, expandable, and remarkably efficient—by deploying these systems, businesses save time on IT and digital operations. At the heart of those UCS X-Series systems for accelerated VDI are NVIDIA’s powerful GPUs and software, and not just for graphics-intensive capabilities either.”
— Briley Kenny for Digital Trends
What’s Next?
Cisco is also now providing NVIDIA-Certified servers that are compatible with NVIDIA AI Enterprise, a complete software suite for developing and deploying AI workloads.
The software layer of the NVIDIA AI platform, NVIDIA AI Enterprise accelerates enterprises to the leading edge of AI, while also simplifying production AI to make it accessible to every enterprise. With over 100 frameworks, pretrained models, and development tools optimized for building and running AI on NVIDIA GPUs, NVIDIA AI Enterprise accelerates every stage of the AI journey from data prep and model training through inference to deployment at scale.
Sustainability Benefits
Customers are being driven to make strong eco-conscious decisions that move beyond policy and into practical applications. M6 and M7 servers can be an integral part of those sustainability efforts. Their hardware and performance innovations use less hardware and have a reduced power input which leads to a lower carbon footprint and a better bottom line.
Adding NVIDIA accelerated computing can meet the demands of a company’s compute power loads while also improving their sustainability rates with their:
- 30% lower power consumption (NVIDIA liquidcooled GPUs for mainstream servers)
- 66% less rack space
- Use of under 1.2 PUEs
- NVIDIA GPUs can be up to 20x more energy efficient for AI than traditional CPUs.
“Sustainability Means More Intelligent Mobile Networks.”
Intersight™
Business has no boundaries, why should managing it? That push for effortless oversight is what drives Intersight.™
Cisco Intersight™ is a SaaS management solution that enables IT teams to proactively manage the hardware and software lifecycle of a VDI environment all from a single interface, regardless of location.
Intersight™ is
Scalable
As customers add more virtual desktops and users, they can easily scale and add new capabilities, without downtime.
Segmented
A modular solution that enables IT teams to adopt, and change services based on business requirements.
Simple
Simplifies IT operations by bridging applications with infrastructure.
Seamless
Intersight™ helps ensure uniform server setup, automatic failover and proactive support seamlessly.
Ceaseless
An always-on connection to the Cisco® Technical Assistance Center (TAC), constantly monitoring your customer’s environment to help identify configuration or operational issues before they become problems.
Cisco Intersight™ can be run from an iOS or Android driven device.
Decision Tree
Promotions
Cisco UCS Xccelerate Program
For details, go to Limited Time UCS X-Series Savings—Cisco.
Terms and Conditions
- Available to First Cisco UCS Purchase ONLY
- Must Register via Smartsheet before quoting/ordering Smartsheet: Click Here
- 1 Xccelerate offer per Customer Only
- Free FI Pair includes 6454 FI or 6536 only
- Free Port Licensing are ONLY for 6454
- For each X440p PCIe Node, customer must purchase either 2x A16 GPU, 2x A40 GPU, 2x A100 GPU or 4X T4 GPU
- Approved quotes are valid for 30 days ONLY
- Standard Discount restrictions apply
- Intersight and 6536 FI Software is Mandatory
- Cannot be combined with other offers
Ordering is SIMPLE!
- Register your DEAL for approval with a Deal ID Smartsheet: Click Here
- Once approved, Order using Promo SKUs
- PID: UCSX-CISCO-COMPETE (For M6) OR UCSX-M7- XCCELERATE (for M7)
- CX installation service requires a Statement of Work.
- Please review CX ordering process here
- Details on the ordering guide posted here
Free Items are included in the PIDs. No additional DSA needed.
DO NOT ORDER WITHOUT BEING APPROVED in SMARTSHEET.
YOUR Orders will be HELD for SHIPMENT with a compliance hold if booked without approval.
Top Customer Concerns
These are some of the most common questions and concerns that customers have raised about VDI along with some statements to help you counter them.
All, or most, of our VDI deployments are on the cloud, why should we consider on-premises deployments?
There’s a savings benefit to being on-prem. ESG, Intersect360 and other industry analysts have shown that a company can see long-term savings running VDI on-premises. There is a security benefit too as having your customer data on-prem allows you to set security protocols for the data to ensure that you comply with industry regulations.
Why purchase Cisco UCS for VDI deployments when we can deploy VDI on rack servers?
Cisco UCS provides functionalities of both blade and rack servers by offering compute density, storage capacity, and expandability in a single system, embracing a wide range of workloads in your data center including VDI on the same system. Cisco UCS can be the single platform you can use to deploy any applications and avoid infrastructure silos and complexity from physical infrastructure and management perspective.
Is choice of GPUs and flexibility of upgrading GPUs important to you in the VDI environment?
If yes, Cisco UCS offer a variety of GPU options and the GPUs are not tied to your compute, they are offered in a disaggregated fashion with the help of X440p PCIe node and X-Fabric technology which allows you to maintain the life cycle of your CPUs and GPUs separately. The GPUs hosted on the X440p PCIe node can be attached to any of your compute nodes based on your application needs.
Do you want to reduce rack space for your VDI and other application infrastructure?
Single Cisco UCS chassis is 7RU in height and can house 1-24 GPUs, replacing 16RU of rack servers (2RU x eight servers).
Do you have new sustainability goals you are trying to meet?
Cisco UCS has an Efficient 54V power distribution to minimize transmission and conversion loss within all system elements along with input power monitoring at a system level which allows a quicker reaction based on real usage to realize 3-4% overall savings. While the unified IO and 100G reduces adapter, cabling, network, and storage port needs.
Do you need simplified physical VDI infrastructure management compared to your existing deployments with rack servers?
Cisco UCS improves cable management with the Cisco UCS X440p PCIe Node, while UCS X-Fabric and compute nodes offer simplicity with plug and play model and do not require complex cabling compared to the rack servers.
What proof does Cisco have that any Converged Infrastructure can support my VDI workload?
Each of our CVDs scale to a specific desktop capacity for the Knowledge Worker profile. This scaling allows us to capture a number of data points which we then use to build configurations that can meet and exceed your requirements. All of the best practices for how to set up a configuration for VDI are well documented in Cisco Validated Designs available on Cisco.com.
Can Cisco UCS offer lower TCO benefits compared to rack servers for your VDI infrastructure?
Yes, the Cisco UCS X440p PCIe Node supports 1-4 GPUs, thus replacing up to four rack servers, reducing cost and solution complexity, along with all the traditional TCO benefits that UCS blade form factor offered since its inception in-terms of reducing the number of ports and cables required to connect your compute platform etc.
Are you struggling with resource refresh life cycles of your VDI infrastructure?
One of the great things about Cisco UCS modularity is the ease with which you can add or upgrade the individual elements: CPU/server, I/O, or GPUs. If your application benefits from GPUs, why replace the server when you only want to upgrade the GPUs? While I know they exist, I’ve never met a customer who replaced a GPU in a production server. They’ve always deployed a new server to upgrade the GPU. They’ve told me it is simpler that way. With Cisco UCS, that changes. You simply replace the GPU associated with the server. Nothing to rack; nothing to cable. After swapping out the PCIe/GPU node, you rediscover the server in Cisco Intersight and your newer, faster GPUs are ready for production. The modularity of the Cisco UCS architecture has real TCO benefits.
Cisco UCS has internal drives per compute node, why do we need to add Pure Storage or NetApp?
For many customers their data volumes exceed what Cisco UCS can address at this time therefore external storage is required. Also, many customers prefer to use the data management tools these storage partners provide. Our current solution is Cisco UCS based and runs extremely well.
Why make any changes this fiscal year?
Processor technology continues to advance by leaps and bounds with each new generation. The current M7 servers are far more powerful then older M4 and M5 models. Assuming you need the same processing power going forward you can reduce the number of servers you have to power up, manage, and cool in your data center plus the savings in rack space. Based upon our sizing parameters for every (4) M4 servers you need (1) M7 and for every (3) M5 servers you need (1) M7 server – assuming you use a 24-core processor in each socket. The 4th Generation of Intel Xeon Scalable Processors have integrated accelerators such as QAT (Quick Assist Technology) which Intel states can make system backups 2.5X faster and Cisco has proven this with SQL Server and documented in a whitepaper published on Cisco.com. New technology provides you with the choice of using UCS Manager or the advantages of Cisco Intersight™. Continuing to run on older (but successful) technology exposes your company to:
- Higher power and support costs
- Lower data security, exposure to older SW being easier to hack into, data compliance issues
- Less efficient IT operations
- Inability to incorporate new technologies
VDI Case Studies
Cisco CI and HCI solutions bring a 13% to 35% lower average monthly cost per VDI desktop than the equivalent cloud-based VDI solutions over a three-year period. That’s just one of the benefits customers, across industries, have realized.
There are several ways that you can capitalize on these opportunities.
- Use your M4 End-of-Support list to find customers open for a discussion around workloads and the modernization of VDI deployment.
- Alert customers to the benefits found in moving to on-prem from the cloud.
- Refer to the Cisco Offers page.