OREANDA-NEWS. October 12, 2016.  Do you have larger and larger datasets, widely dispersed users, ever-shrinking IT support? If your answer to any of these is yes, have you tried remote visualization? Remote visualization moves pixels, not data, leaving the data safely in the datacenter; frees up network bandwidth; and typically improves performance with the application and the data co-located.

HPC users want much more from the jobs they run: printouts from simulations, tests and analyses are no longer satisfying. Users want to see visual representations, and until recently ““fat” workstations on their desktops were the only option.

Today, the most common approach is to provide CPU/GPU power when the user wants it — but as dataset size increases, there can be delays in downloading the results. Also, sharing the results with colleagues means gathering around the workstation — not always possible in this globalized, collaborative workplace.

Increasing dataset complexity (millions of polygons, interacting components, MRI/PET overlays) means that when the time comes to upgrade and replace the workstations, the next generation of hardware needs more memory, more graphics processing, more disk and more CPU cores. This means the workstation is expensive and noisy, and needs cooling.

Innovation in the field of remote 3D processing now allows companies to address these issues, moving applications away from the desktop into the datacenter. Instead of pushing data to the application, the application can be moved near the data.

Instead of mass workstation upgrades, remote visualization technology allows incremental provisioning, on-demand allocation, better management and efficient distribution of interactive sessions and licenses. Racked workstations or blades typically have lower maintenance and cooling and replacement costs, and they can extend workstation (or laptop) life as “thin clients.”

Built-in collaboration supports the global workforce by allowing users around the world to share and work on the same project/session, directly from their thin client.

We at NICE, a company that provides grid and cloud solutions, were pleased to provide NICE Desktop Cloud Visualization (DCV) for reservoir simulations conducted by Stone Ridge Technology and Cray. More information about the technology is available on this page [LINK TO http://www.nice-software.com/products/dcv] and in this flyer [LINK TO http://www.nice-software.com/html/flyer/DCVFlyer.pdf].