Remote Desktop and Hardware Accelerated Graphics


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Hello!

I just came across unRaid.

The front page claims unRaid can be used for gaming.

 

Could this game be played over thin-clients?

 

In other words:

Is it capable of provisioning VM's with GPU's?

Do I have to be physically attached to the host in order to use the GPU?

Can I have hardware accelerated graphics over Ethernet?

 

Use scenario:

My wife is an architect and she works with 3D software.

At this moment she is looking for a new workstation.

I am searching for a solution in which she can work remotely from the [powerful] workstation at home or clients.

 

I tried to use Windows Remote Desktop (RDP), or connecting to a VM on a network Hyper-V host, but both approaches failed.

RDP and Hyper-V VM's don't support GPU, and her software won't load/work.

 

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Passing through a GPU to a VM is one thing and having almost full performance like on a bare metal system with directly attached display, keyboard and mice. No problem with such a config. Lots of Unraid users using such a configuration and sitting in front of their Unraid "server". But as soon as you try to remote connect via RDP, Teamviewer VNC etc. you won't see the same performance on the client. Every remote software has it's advantages and disadvantages. Slow past games, sure you can play them, but don't expect a smooth game play experience. Also keep in mind you can't use a GPU in more than one VM at the same time. You need 2 GPUs if you plan to have 2 VMs with GPU acceleration running at the same time.

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14 hours ago, Glauco Lins said:

Hello!

I just came across unRaid.

The front page claims unRaid can be used for gaming.

...

I tried to use Windows Remote Desktop (RDP), or connecting to a VM on a network Hyper-V host, but both approaches failed.

RDP and Hyper-V VM's don't support GPU, and her software won't load/work.

 

Could this game be played over thin-clients?

Yes. Network latency is a problem, big or small depending on which software you use to stream. I can play remotely from a Surface 3 to my main VM via RDP which is about as janky as it gets but it is still acceptable (albeit my game is hardly Call of Duty).

 

In other words:

Is it capable of provisioning VM's with GPU's?

Do I have to be physically attached to the host in order to use the GPU?

Can I have hardware accelerated graphics over Ethernet?

Yes with a "but". Your hardware (CPU, motherboard, GPU) has to be happy with PCIe passthrough. Some pitfalls are for example, rubbish IOMMU group, reset bug (GPU stops working after a VM restart), bad BIOS (recent Ryzen update), CPU not supporting etc. You might want to search on the forum to see who has a similar hardware to what you are thinking of and ask the members directly for experience.

 

Use scenario:

My wife is an architect and she works with 3D software.

At this moment she is looking for a new workstation.

I am searching for a solution in which she can work remotely from the [powerful] workstation at home or clients.

I don't see any problem (except for the pitfalls mentioned above). I run GPU-accelerated video editing over RDP (again from a Surface 3 to main VM) so it's not just gaming that works.

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On 6/25/2019 at 8:19 AM, testdasi said:

Could this game be played over thin-clients?

Yes. Network latency is a problem, big or small depending on which software you use to stream. I can play remotely from a Surface 3 to my main VM via RDP which is about as janky as it gets but it is still acceptable (albeit my game is hardly Call of Duty).

 

In other words:

Is it capable of provisioning VM's with GPU's?

Do I have to be physically attached to the host in order to use the GPU?

Can I have hardware accelerated graphics over Ethernet?

Yes with a "but". Your hardware (CPU, motherboard, GPU) has to be happy with PCIe passthrough. Some pitfalls are for example, rubbish IOMMU group, reset bug (GPU stops working after a VM restart), bad BIOS (recent Ryzen update), CPU not supporting etc. You might want to search on the forum to see who has a similar hardware to what you are thinking of and ask the members directly for experience.

 

Use scenario:

My wife is an architect and she works with 3D software.

At this moment she is looking for a new workstation.

I am searching for a solution in which she can work remotely from the [powerful] workstation at home or clients.

I don't see any problem (except for the pitfalls mentioned above). I run GPU-accelerated video editing over RDP (again from a Surface 3 to main VM) so it's not just gaming that works.

How are you using GPU 3D Acceleration over RDP?

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10 hours ago, ezhik said:

How are you using GPU 3D Acceleration over RDP?

How? Basically just "plug-and-play" albeit wirelessly.

 

RDP is essentially just a glorified live screen capture software. The acceleration is between the game and the GPU. The GPU creates an output display. That display is normally out to the monitor. RDP captures that display and send it to you over the network (which explains the latency).

 

Different streaming softwares differ by where and how they capture the output from the GPU.

 

You can even try it for yourself (there are several free solutions out there, even open-source I think) with your current workstation. No need to commit to Unraid before you have a proof of concept.

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5 hours ago, testdasi said:

How? Basically just "plug-and-play" albeit wirelessly.

 

RDP is essentially just a glorified live screen capture software. The acceleration is between the game and the GPU. The GPU creates an output display. That display is normally out to the monitor. RDP captures that display and send it to you over the network (which explains the latency).

 

Different streaming softwares differ by where and how they capture the output from the GPU.

 

You can even try it for yourself (there are several free solutions out there, even open-source I think) with your current workstation. No need to commit to Unraid before you have a proof of concept.

 

I am aware how RDP works. Unless something has changed over years, RDP & 3D acceleration was not something that went well together. If what you are saying is true, that means you can even do light gaming over RDP. That's impressive.

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36 minutes ago, ezhik said:

I am aware how RDP works. Unless something has changed over years, RDP & 3D acceleration was not something that went well together. If what you are saying is true, that means you can even do light gaming over RDP. That's impressive.

It depends on how many years and what games. Some games indeed don't play game with RDP (#BadPun). Some are unplayable (think 30fps with CS:GO, that sort of unplayable). So YMMV basically.

That's why I recommended the OP to try it out as a proof of concept first.

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11 hours ago, testdasi said:

It depends on how many years and what games. Some games indeed don't play game with RDP (#BadPun). Some are unplayable (think 30fps with CS:GO, that sort of unplayable). So YMMV basically.

That's why I recommended the OP to try it out as a proof of concept first.

 

Makes sense.

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