Editor’s Pick: BOXX Technologies’ XDI Virtual Workstations

Dear Desktop Engineering Reader:

A standard server-based virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) can work just fine in an office environment where people are processing email, filling forms and surfing the Web for bargains on Woot or something. They're cost-effective and give you a centralized, secure environment for your data. They do not, alas, normally have the oomph for users banging on high-end design and engineering applications. Today's Pick of the Week, however, is about a series of virtualization solutions engineered with the brawn to handle whatever designers, engineers, architects and other 3D pros demand of them.

The XDI (XTREME Desktop Infrastructure) virtual workstation series from BOXX Technologies provides your outfit with the horsepower to maintain peak application performance while hosting up to eight concurrent engineers on a single, centralized server. They offer all the benefits of virtual desktop infrastructure – remote application access, security, high-speed shared storage and so on – optimized to handle the compute-intensive applications and large data sets that solutions like CATIA, Solid Edge and 3ds Max generate routinely.

The XDI virtual workstation series has three key features. First, to optimize graphics performance, XDI assigns each user a physical GPU (graphics processing unit). The graphics card currently used is the AMD FirePro R5000, which is a PCoIP (PC over Internet Protocol) based card for remote multi-monitor workstation computing.

Second, the multicore Xeon processor-based BOXX XDI series deploys all sorts of clever technology to keep applications from eating up CPU cycle time. For example, XDI leverages a Teradici PCoIP host card that frees up countless CPU cycles by relieving the host Xeon of pixel stream compression and encryption. Third, that PCoIP card also helps optimize network loading by using a dedicated NIC (network interface card) to offload the pixel stream to the end user from the host NIC.

The XDI (XTREME Desktop Infrastructure) V8 virtual workstations can host up to eight concurrent users running compute-intensive design and engineering applications. Image courtesy of BOXX Technologies Inc.

The XDI series comes in configurations to support single users, four users and up to eight users. You can get more details about the series, especially the top-end XDI V8 for hosting up to eight designers and engineers, from today's Pick of the Week write-up. Make sure to take in the video for a quick background on what a BOXX XDI virtual workstation setup can mean for you. The link at the end of the main write-up takes you to a page dedicated to the XDI series. It’ll give you a thorough idea of what the XDI series can do for you, your team and your 3D workflow. Well worth a look.

Thanks, Pal. – Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood

Editor at Large, Desktop Engineering

Learn about the BOXX XDI series here.