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hen the COVID-19 with CPU, GPU and storage, that host up Architects, HLM Architects, Hutchinson pandemic hit and there to seven virtual workstations or ‘vdesks’. & Partners, Lipton Plant Architects, suddenly became an urgent ‘Pods’ are most cost-effective when Lyndon Goode Architects and Weston need to work from home, configured with seven vdesks, although it Williamson + Partners. AEC firms had to act quickly. For many, is possible to have less. They can be hosted the solution was simply to remote into on-premise or, for an additional fee, in What’s inside a pod? their office workstations via VPN using Inevidesk’s private UK cloud. Inevidesk’s 3U server ‘pods’ are built optimised remote desktop technologies like The idea behind the ‘pod’ system is around an AMD EPYC processor, which Microsoft RDP or Teradici CAS (PCoIP). that firms can adopt them incrementally, is used as a shared resource for up seven 20 months on and little has changed. gradually replacing their ageing physical ‘vdesks’. While some firms have embraced cloud or workstations with virtual ones and With lots of cores, AMD EPYC is a very on-premise virtual desktops, there are still potentially taking them to the cloud at an capable and cost-effective processor. many others with physical workstations appropriate time. However, like most CPUs used in virtual sat on empty desks or stacked in the corner To keep costs down, it’s fair to say that environments, it does have its downsides. of the office. Inevidesk has gone off piste. All of the CAD and BIM software thrives on CPU One of the reasons for this is that ‘pods’ are built in house, but the real frequency, and because EPYC has a lower moving to the cloud or investing in an on- difference comes from software. clock speed (GHz) than typical desktop premise Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Instead of having to license traditional CPUs like Intel Core or AMD Ryzen, (VDI) solution is sometimes don’t expect performance seen as a huge expense. Few to properly rival that of a service providers publish traditional workstation. There’s much to like about Inevidesk’s pricing and there are often Inevidesk also advises that simple, modular approach and the fact hidden costs along the way. because CPU resources are London-based Inevidesk that, with a three-year commitment, prices shared, vdesks should not be takes a different approach. for CPU rendering. actually go down at the end of the contract used It puts pricing for its virtual All other components, desktop platform service up including the graphics card, front and centre on its website. are dedicated to each user. And it’s hardly surprising. With prices virtualisation tools like Citrix, VMware, There are three different levels of ‘vdesk’ starting at £456 per annum for an entry- Hyper-V or Nvidia Grid, Inevidesk – basic, mid and high – which vary by level CAD workstation, dropping to uses a mix of open-source technologies. memory, CPU cores, storage and GPU. £180 per annum after three years (as you This includes a Linux back end and To cater to different graphics needs, then own the hardware) it’s certainly virtualisation platform, along with a video there’s a choice of the AMD Radeon Pro competitive. streaming technology, which Whiteley WX 3200 GPU, for 2D CAD and entryAccording to Inevidesk director Tim refers to as Inevidesk’s ‘secret sauce’. level 3D CAD/BIM; the Nvidia T1000 Whiteley it costs around 70% less than Whiteley is keen to point out that, GPU, for mainstream 3D CAD/BIM; most other virtual desktop infrastructure, prior to the official launch last year, all and the Nvidia RTX A4000 GPU, for so it’s not too far away from just buying a of these technologies were stress tested more graphics-intensive workflows like physical workstation. Firms can choose by a steering group of architects and real-time rendering in applications like between a three-year term (cheapest) BIM consultants. He adds that Hopkins Enscape, or GPU rendering in V-Ray. or a one-year term (more expensive). Architects, who had been trialling the Inevidesk can be flexible with the See inevidesk.uk/pricing for more info. system for Inevidesk prior to Covid, were configurations of its ‘pods’ and can so happy with the service that they bought also create bespoke VMs for those with Workstations pods all of Inevidesk’s stock as the UK moved more demanding workflows, such as Inevidesk’s virtual workstation service is into lockdown. high-end design-viz. For example, it is based around the concept of ‘pods’. These Other AEC customers include Cullinan currently exploring potential for AMD’s are essentially fully-integrated 3U servers Studio, Flanagan Lawrence, GRID Threadripper CPU, although some firms
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