When compared to more established client hypervisor vendor Virtual Computer, the biggest criticism leveled against Citrix XenClient has been its very limited hardware compatibility list. With just a dozen or so laptops and two desktop PCs on the list of supported devices for the RC 2 release Citrix still has a lot of work to do.
Citrix’s initial focus with XenClient has been based on laptops partly out of business focus and partly out of necessity. One of the biggest problems that Citrix faces in creating a half decent hardware compatibility list is the time and cost of hardware driver development. But if you break apart a laptop (at least an enterprise laptop) you find remarkably little internal variation. Alongside the almost inevitable Intel CPU, will lie an Intel integrated GPU and more than likely is not an Intel Centrino or Broadcom wi-fi chipset. This becomes very obvious when you take a look at the current HCL which has today only two supported GPUs and a handful of closely related to wi-fi chipsets.
Now, anyone familiar with Intel’s integrated graphics chipsets would probably agree that’s the kindest thing that could be said for them is that they are best suited to undemanding mainstream business graphics users. Users requiring high-end business graphics or even low-end gaming performance will find Intel’s current offerings to be less than satisfactory, and will have no choice but to look to one of the many thousands of NVIDIA based graphics adapters to meet their needs. This represents a significant challenge for Citrix because if it is to extend XenClient’s HCL beyond the pedestrian world of business laptops and PCs, it needs to be able to support users who demand higher graphics performance. Unfortunately the frenetic pace of the GPU market means that Citrix is going to have a very difficult time keeping pace. However, it looks like Intel is going to be doing Citrix big favor here early next year.
The next generation of cool processors
Tech blogger site AnandTech has got hold of a sample of Intel’s second-generation Core processor range (code name Sandy Bridge) and is posting some very impressive results that may make Citrix’s life that much easier.
Sandy Bridge is a big step forward from the first generation Core processor with a 32 nm CPU and on-die GPU in contrast to the previous generation Clarksdale/Allendale processors which had a separate albeit in-package 45 nm GPU. The cheapest Sandy Bridge processor at launch will be the Core i3 2100 which is expected to come in at about $138. This puts it well within the range of most corporate IT desktop and laptop budgets, and given its performance characteristics is going to make life very difficult for AMD to compete. Equally importantly Sandy Bridge is positioned on Intel’s processor roadmap as spanning evenything from the “mainstream” right down into the “value” processor bracket, providing a single CPU/GPU architecture for amost every business computing need.
So how does this help Citrix? Well there’s nothing in the CPU that we haven’t seen before as far as XenClient is concerned, instead we need to look at the GPU side of the house. Sandy Bridge will come with two GPU configurations, Intel refers to them as GT1 and GT 2 offering six or 12 execution units – Intel terminology for what NVIDIA refer to as CUDA cores. Intel say that laptops are slated to get the GT2 chips with 12 execution units. Most desktop PCs will get the less powerful GT1 configuration, but some desktop units are expected to be available with the high-performance GT2 12 execution units GPU. No doubt the GT1 configuration is a way to appease NVIDIA and the host of graphics cards manufacturers that it supports. Of course specifications are one thing, what matters are results.
Assuming that AnandTech has got this right, the Core i5 2600 with its GPU hosting six execution units delivered a benchmark that was more than twice as fast as a current generation Intel Core i5 670 processor running Intel’s HD graphics integrated graphics controller. If this initial assessment is correct it very much looks like Sandy Bridge could make the low-end discreet graphics card obsolete, and needless to say that would do much to take the load off Citrix by reducing the number of graphics drivers it would need to support to extend XenClient to the desktop.
Update -
AnandTech is now reporting that the Core i5 2600 it had access to had the faster GT2 GPU. Clearly this would mean that the demise of the low-end discrete graphics card is not perhaps as close as I suggested initially. Still if nothing else it looks like Sandy Bridge will raise the bar on integrated graphics performance and it will eliminate the need for discrete graphics cards for least some percentage of the business desktop market.
No comments yet.