Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View

Table 11‑12. 3D Renderer Options for Pools Running on vSphere 5.1 or Later
Option Description
Manage using
vSphere Client
The 3D Renderer option that is set in vSphere Web Client (or vSphere Client in vSphere 5.1 or
later) for a virtual machine determines the type of 3D graphics rendering that takes place. View
does not control 3D rendering.
In the vSphere Web Client, you can configure the Automatic, Software, or Hardware options.
These options have the same effect as they do when you set them in View Administrator.
Use this setting when configuring vDGA. This setting is also an option for vSGA.
When you select the Manage using vSphere Client option, the Configure VRAM for 3D Guests,
Max number of monitors, and Max resolution of any one monitor settings are inactive in View
Administrator. You can configure the amount of memory in vSphere Web Client.
Automatic 3D rendering is enabled. The ESXi host controls the type of 3D rendering that takes place.
For example, the ESXi host reserves GPU hardware resources on a first-come, first-served basis as
virtual machines are powered on. If all GPU hardware resources are already reserved when a
virtual machine is powered on, ESXi uses the software renderer for that machine.
This setting is an option when configuring vSGA.
The ESXi host allocates VRAM to a virtual machine based on the value that is set in the Configure
VRAM for 3D Guests dialog box.
Software 3D rendering is enabled. The ESXi host uses software 3D graphics rendering. If a GPU graphics
card is installed on the ESXi host, this pool will not use it.
Use this setting to configure Soft 3D.
The ESXi host allocates VRAM to a virtual machine based on the value that is set in the Configure
VRAM for 3D Guests dialog box.
Hardware 3D rendering is enabled. The ESXi host reserves GPU hardware resources on a first-come, first-
served basis as virtual machines are powered on.
This setting is an option when configuring vSGA.
The ESXi host allocates VRAM to a virtual machine based on the value that is set in the Configure
VRAM for 3D Guests dialog box.
IMPORTANT If you configure the Hardware option, consider these potential constraints:
n
If a user tries to connect to a machine when all GPU hardware resources are reserved, the
virtual machine will not power on, and the user will receive an error message.
n
If you use vMotion to move the machine to an ESXi host that does not have GPU hardware
configured, the virtual machine will not power on.
When you configure hardware-based 3D rendering, you can examine the GPU resources that are
allocated to each virtual machine on an ESXi host. For details, see “Examining GPU Resources on
an ESXi Host,” on page 133.
Chapter 11 Provisioning Desktop Pools
VMware, Inc. 129