Creating a Virtual Desktop with Ansys Fluids

The Ansys Fluids virtual desktop experience is summarized in the following steps:

  1. Create a virtual desktop. A project space administrator creates a virtual desktop with an Ansys Fluids package installed. See Creating a Virtual Desktop in the Administration Guide.

    Important notes for Ansys Fluids:

    • Operating system: Windows or Linux

      If you are using SpaceClaim to create or modify your model, you must start with a Windows virtual desktop.

    • Applications. Select an Ansys Fluids package.

      If you are creating a Linux virtual desktop, you must add either KDE Desktop Environment or GNOME Desktop Latest Version to the list of applications to be installed.

      GPU workflows: For accelerated graphics, use GNOME. For GPU compute, you can use either GNOME or KDE as long as the correct driver type is selected when specifying hardware.

      Note:

      • For a Windows virtual desktop, Ansys recommends that you create the virtual desktop without any applications, and then add the application after the virtual desktop has been created. See Adding Applications to a Virtual Machine in the User's Guide. Sometimes, Windows updates are triggered on newly created virtual machines, causing application installation to fail.

      • When creating a Linux virtual desktop, installing Ansys Fluids in a shared file location is not supported. An application can only be installed on Azure Files NFS shared storage during the creation of an autoscaling cluster. You can, therefore, point to a shared file location that already has Ansys Fluids installed (if one exists).

    • Hardware: The recommendations are outlined below.

      Graphics Nodes for Pre/Post

      • NCv3* series (for example, Standard_NC12s_v3)
      • NCasT4_v3* series (based on NVIDIA T4)
      • NVadsA10_v5* series (based on NVIDIA A10G) (only supported with GRID drivers)

      • For any type of work requiring accelerated graphics, use a virtual machine (VM) with GPU and GRID driver for best results. Using a CPU machine or Tesla driver may result in graphical issues.

      • For interactive workflows, use a virtual machine (VM) with a GPU. Although non-GPU machines may be suitable for low-level interactive tasks, they are primarily recommended for non-graphical batch workflows to ensure optimal performance and compatibility.

      • For large simulation models, a VM with a graphics card is recommended. These nodes may have enough CPU cores to run small models. When using a Linux VM, use GNOME Desktop and GRID driver for accelerated graphics.

        It is up to you to decide which series to use based on its graphics card. Memory requirements depend on many factors including the size and type of mesh, single vs double precision, and the physical models used. For VDI workflows, note the total memory available on the VM when selecting an appropriate VM size for the models with which you wish to work.

      • A minimum of 256 GB of local storage is required for the installation of Ansys Fluids.

      • For pre- and post-, an instance with one GPU card with required core count is sufficient.

      Compute/Memory Optimized Series

      • Fsv2 series (for example, Standard_F36s_v2 or higher cores)
      • Esv3/4/5 series (for example, Standard_E8s_v3, Standard_E8as_v4, Standard_E8as_v5)
      		 Multiple options for core counts are available. Select the VM size based on the model size requirements. Memory requirements depend on many factors including the size and type of mesh, single vs double precision, and the physical models used.

      GPU Nodes for Ansys Fluent Native GPU Solver

      NCv3* series (Standard_NC16as_T4_v3

      • GPU clusters are not supported.

      • Some GPU VM sizes have more than one GPU card. Ansys Fluent Native GPU Solvers can run on one or more GPU cards. Select Tesla drivers when creating these VMs.

      • For single GPU compute, opt for the GRID or TESLA GPU driver option. For multi-GPU compute, Tesla is preferred for best performance.

      • If using the NVIDIA A10G GPU with multi-GPU compute (in other words, these machines can have up to 4 GPUs), these will lose performance as they are only compatible with the GRID driver.

      High Performance Compute

      • HC series (for example, Standard_HC44rs)
      • HBv3 series (for example, Standard_HB120rs_v3)
      • HBv2 series (for example, Standard_HB120rs_v2)
      • HBv4 series (for example, Standard_HB176-48rs_v4)
      		 Recommended for VDI workflows as these nodes have multiple options for core counts available. Select the VM size based on model size and other requirements. If there is no availability of HB_v3, HB_v2 is sufficient.

      * Has GPUs (graphics processing units)

      For GPU compute, follow these guidelines when choosing a GPU driver option:

      • Single GPU compute: GRID or Tesla
      • Multi-GPU compute: Tesla preferred for best performance, but not available for NVadsA10_v5

  2. Launch a virtual desktop session. Users with access to the project space connect to the virtual desktop to start a virtual desktop session. See Launching a Virtual Desktop Session in the User's Guide.

  3. Run the remote application. Once the desktop is open you can run simulations on the virtual desktop just as you would on your local desktop. For product information refer to the Fluent Documentation and CFX Documentation.

    If you need to transfer files to the virtual desktop, see General Guidelines for Transferring Files in the User's Guide.

    Note: Currently, launching Aero or Icing from the Fluent Launcher in Ansys Access on Microsoft Azure results in display issues. To work around this issue, see Running Ansys Fluent Aero and Fluent Icing (2024 R1 and 2024 R2).