For years I’ve had a dream of building a rack mounted PC capable of splitting its resources to host multiple GPU intensive VMs:

  • a few gaming VMs
  • a VM for work that can run Davinci Resolve and Blender renders
  • an LLM server
  • a Stable Diffusion server
  • media server

Just to name a few possibilities…

Everytime I’ve looked into it, it seemed like the technology just wasn’t there yet. I remember a few years ago Linus TT took a shot at it, but in the end suggested the technology (for non-commercial entities) just wasn’t in a comfortable spot yet.

So how far off are we? Obviously AI focused companies seem to make it work, but what possibilities exist for us self-hosters who might also want to run multiple displays in addition to the web gui LLM servers? And without forking out crazy money for GPU virtualization software licenses?

    • Takumidesh@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      2 years ago

      Can this solution deliver 3+ streams of high resolution (1440p or higher and 144fps) low latency video with no artifacting and near native performance and responsiveness?

      Gaming has a high requirement for high fidelity and low latency I/O, no one wants to spend all this money on racks and thin clients, the then get laggy windows and scrolling, artifacts, video compression, and low resolution.

      That’s the problem at hand with a gaming server, if you want to replace a gaming desktop with a vm in a rack, you need to actually get the I/O to the user somehow, either through dedicated cables from the rack, fiber, or networking, the first is impractical, it involves potentially 100ft long runs of multiple display port, HDMI, USB, etc, and is very rigid in its application, the second is very expensive, shooting the price up to thousands of dollars per seat for display port/USB over fiber extenders, and the third option I have yet to see a vnc/remote solution that can deliver near native video performance.

      I should reiterate, the op wants to do fidelity sensitive tasks, like video editing, they don’t just need to work on a spreadsheet.

        • Takumidesh@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          2 years ago

          Right, but who has the resources to rent compute with multiple GPUs, this is a gaming setup, not office work, and the op was talking about racking it.

          All of those services offer an inferior experience to being at the hardware, it’s just not the same experience. Seriously, try it with multiple 1440p 144hz displays, it just doesn’t happen work out well, you are getting a compromised product for a higher cost. You need a good GPU (or at least a way to decode multiple hvec streams) in in the client, and so, you can run a standard thin client.

          ‘low latency’ is a near native experience, I’m talking, you sit down at your desk and it feels like you are at your computer(as to say, multiple monitors, hdr, USB swapping, Bluetooth, audio, etc, all working seamlessly without noticeably diminished quality), anything less isn’t worth it, since you can just, use your computer like normal.

            • Takumidesh@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              2 years ago

              Yea I do, you brought up that local isn’t always the option.

              I desperately want it to work for me, i just can’t get it to work without spending thousands of dollars on hardware just to get back to the same experience as having a regular desktop at my desk.

        • Yggstyle@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          2 years ago

          This. Exactly. Many solutions exist but need to be selected based on scale and personal needs.