Architecture Planning

Table Of Contents
RAM Sizing for Specific Monitor Configurations When Using PCoIP
If you use PCoIP, the display protocol from VMware, the amount of extra RAM that the ESXi host requires
depends in part on the number of monitors configured for end users and on the display resolution. Table 4-1
lists the amount of overhead RAM required for various configurations. The amounts of memory listed in the
columns are in addition to the amount of memory required for other PCoIP functionality.
Table 41. PCoIP Client Display Overhead
Display
Resolution
Standard Width, in Pixels Height, in Pixels
1-Monitor
Overhead
2-Monitor
Overhead
4-Monitor
Overhead
VGA 640 480 2.34MB 4.69MB 9.38MB
SVGA 800 600 3.66MB 7.32MB 14.65MB
720p 1280 720 7.03MB 14.65MB 28.13MB
UXGA 1600 1200 14.65MB 29.30MB 58.59MB
1080p 1920 1080 15.82MB 31.64MB 63.28MB
WUXGA 1920 1200 17.58MB 35.16MB 70.31MB
QXGA 2048 1536 24.00MB 48.00MB 96.00MB
WQXGA 2560 1600 31.25MB 62.50MB 125.00MB
When you consider these requirements, note that virtual machine configuration of allocated RAM does not
change. That is, you do not need to allocate 1GB of RAM for applications and another 31MB for dual 1080p
monitors. Instead, consider the overhead RAM when calculating the total physical RAM required for each
ESXi host. Add the guest operating system RAM to the overhead RAM and multiply by the number of
virtual machines.
IMPORTANT To use the 3D rendering feature, you must allocate sufficient VRAM for each remote desktop.
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The software-accelerated graphics feature, available with vSphere 5.0 and later, allows you to use 3D
applications such as Windows Aero themes or Google Earth. By default, the amount of VRAM set for
this feature is 64MB.
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The Virtual Shared Graphics Acceleration (vSGA) feature, available with vSphere 5.1 and later, allows
multiple virtual machines to share the physical GPUs on the ESXi hosts. You can use 3D applications
for design, modeling, and multimedia. By default, the amount of VRAM set for this feature is 96MB.
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The Virtual Dedicated Graphics Acceleration (vDGA) feature, available with vSphere 5.5 and later,
dedicates a single physical GPU (graphical processing unit) on an ESXi host to a single virtual machine.
This feature provides high-end, hardware accelerated workstation graphics. When you create the
virtual machine in vSphere, you are prompted to reserve all memory.
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The NVIDIA GRID vGPU (shared GPU hardware acceleration) feature, available with vSphere 6.0 and
later, allows a physical GPU on an ESXi host to be shared among virtual machines. This feature
provides high-end, hardware accelerated workstation graphics. When you create the virtual machine in
vSphere, you are prompted to reserve all memory.
When 3D rendering is enabled, the maximum number of monitors is 2 and the maximum resolution is 1920
x 1200.
RAM Sizing for Specific Workloads and Operating Systems
Because the amount of RAM required can vary widely, depending on the type of worker, many companies
conduct a pilot phase to determine the correct setting for various pools of workers in their enterprise.
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