Archive republication: This article was originally published on 29 September 2020. It has been translated into English and lightly updated for clarity while preserving the original reporting and context.
This article originally appeared in issue 04 : 2020.
We spoke to Michael Gross, Solution Architect, about what it’s all about, what the system can do, what it can’t do and what hardware it needs.
DP: What is the difference to TeamViewer or a VNC client?
Michael Gross: It’s actually quite simple: Teradici is not designed for support, but for a permanent remote workstation with everything that goes with it. And instead of a serviceable interface, we can handle resolutions up to 4K with up to 60 fps – and media workflows are also possible. Unlike Team Viewer, Teradici works with YUV 4:4:4, so we offer full colour fidelity with 8-bit colour depth. There are also features such as support for low-latency devices such as Wacom tablets, remote work on Windows and Linux devices, support for on-premise, public cloud or hybrid environments, and all this on up to 4 monitors with 3,840 x 2,160 each.
DP: What is this PCoIP all about?
Michael Gross: PCoIP was developed by Teradici in 2004 and is a UDP-based display protocol that transfers the pixels of a virtual machine or physical workstation to any PCoIP-capable endpoint. The entire computing power takes place on the host side. A new feature set was released in mid-2019, which enables even higher resolutions and even higher frame rates. To be able to use PCoIP Ultra, a group policy or a line in a configuration file simply needs to be changed. PCoIP Ultra requires a processor on both sides that has the AVX2 instruction set. The so-called Advanced Vector Extension 2 is designed to improve application performance, and this is where we really come into our own.
DP: So if you only move pixels back and forth and no data per se, is the confidentiality of the data guaranteed? And the system is therefore not susceptible to leaks and the like?
Michael Gross: The protocol is end-to-end encrypted. On the agent side, the pixels are compressed and encrypted using the AES256 algorithm. The pixels are then transmitted over the network and decrypted and decompressed on the client side. Furthermore, only the changing pixels are transmitted rather than the entire screen – this makes industrial espionage particularly difficult and saves bandwidth.
DP: Suppose I take a headless computer in the studio and play films from it – what kind of data throughput does that generate?
Michael Gross: As always in IT, the saying “it depends” comes into play here. As we only ever transfer the changing pixels, it depends on how many pixels are transferred. As a rule of thumb, the more monitors, the higher the resolution, the more fps and the larger the active region of the pixels, the higher the bandwidth requirement. But you should not go below 10 Mbit.
DP: Colour accuracy should therefore be possible in view of 4:4:4 – depending on the calibrated screen at the remote location. But can I also display the graphically simpler tools in 4:2:0, for example?
Michael Gross: Teradici also offers YUV 4:2:0. All you have to do is flip a switch. Instead of Teradici’s own encoder, Nvidia’s NVENC with H.264 encoder is then used. The only thing we don’t offer is a black and white mode (laughs). DP: What’s not quite clear to me is whether the computer is in a cloud or whether I can tunnel to my work computer in the studio as normal? Michael Gross: Even though our solution is called Cloud Access Software, it doesn’t mean that only machines in the cloud can be used. We support physical machines and virtual machines on-premise as well as various virtual instances on the Amazon AWS Cloud, the Google GCP Cloud and Microsoft’s Azure Cloud. On the user side, only a PCo IP-capable end device is required. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a zero client, a thin client, a mobile client for Android or iOS tablets or a software client for Windows, Linux and Mac computers.
DP: And what else do you need in terms of hardware?
Michael Gross: If you opt for the Cloud Access software, you don’t need any extra hardware. Installation and you’re done. However, we also offer a hardware solution using remote workstation cards. These are cards that are plugged into a free PCIe slot. The output of the GPU is redirected to this card using a special cable. A LAN cable is then connected to this card. This machine can then be accessed via the remote workstation card using the assigned IP address. Due to the somewhat older technology of this card, it is unfortunately not possible to provide a resolution higher than 4K and 15 fps. Furthermore, it is also not possible to use Nvidia’s NVENC encoder. This is only possible with Teradici’s software solution. On the endpoint side, laptops/computers, tablets, zero clients or thin clients can be used. So basically anything that is currently available.
DP: And what is the price range for ten Teradici workstations, for example, if we do the whole thing via software?
Michael Gross: With the Marketplace solutions in AWS and GCP, the cost of the Teradici licence is 0.50 euros/hour. If the licence is ordered through us, the cost is 240 euros/year per user. We have a concurrent user licence model – basically something like floating licences. Our software can be installed on any number of machines, but if the customer only has 10 licences, he can connect to a maximum of 10 machines at the same time.
DP: Do you have a trial version so that you can try it out on a computer?
Michael Gross: Of course – we offer trial licences with the full range of functions. The best way to do this is to get in touch with our sales team. Alternatively, you can also use a Marketplace image in AWS or GCP. Our licence costs are then included in the hourly billing of AWS or GCP. But if you want to know more, we have compiled some information at http://www.teradici.com/remote-work.
DP: The machine could theoretically also be a virtual workstation, at Amazon Web Services or something?
Michael Gross: We support virtual machines on the 3 major public cloud providers (Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure) – but we do not offer a complete solution for customers. Instead, we work with partners who then offer such a solution, e.g. storage provision, configuration of the cloud environment.
DP: Does anyone actually use this?
Michael Gross: We have several customers in the media and entertainment sector. The larger ones include Jellyfish Pictures, Dneg, Animal Logic, Tangent Animation, Rainmaker Studios and a few others who do not wish to be named.
