LucidLogix Technologies (Lucid) is a technology company from Israel providing solutions which provides an unique approach when it comes to using Multiple Graphical Processor Unites (GPUs), a technique expected to become more popular now that VDI vendors are announcing support for it, like Microsoft with its upcoming RemoteFX technology, a remote desktop protocol accelerator, which Microsoft acquired when they acquired Calista in January 2008.
Remote FX is currently in Release Candidate status and to be released with Service Pack 1 for Windows Server 2008 R2/Windows 7 which is still expected for H1 2011. These technologies require identical GPUs in the host though, as outlined in the Deploying Microsoft RemoteFX on a Single Remote Desktop Virtualization Host Server Step-by-Step Guide for example.
Lucid provides several solutions which allow mixing different types of GPUs within a system and provides their resources based on requested performance. Their solution called the HydraLogix Engine analyzes a frame before it is rendered and intelligently distrbutes the rendering task between the GPU’s on board. The solution provides load balancing between GPU’s and selection based on GPU rendering power.
The company provides its products in several ways, using hardware which can be implemented by vendors on motherboards (System on a Chip) called HydraLogix and is also provided as an PCIe expansion board called Adventure. The company announced that it will provide a software only solution, in the form of a device driver called Virtu, leveraging the Intel Sandy Bridge technology.
While Lucid doesn’t sell their product as a specific VDI solution, the fact that Lucid can aggregate the different types of GPU’s in the system could make their solution very interesting for VDI vendors to use their technique to further drive adoption of their remote protocol accelerator solutions.