Cloudalize is a company you’ve probably never heard, but you’ve certainly heard of desktop virtualization. You know, accessing all your apps (CAD, CAE, BIM, etc.) from the cloud via any browser or mobile device? Yes? Well, up until now Frame has been the headliner showing the possibilities, with quick creation of a virtual workspace, and SolidWorks, Siemens and others using them as a cloud solution.

It’s a wide open space and Cloudalize is ready to give Frame some competition. The Belgian-based IT startup has developed their own online workspace solution called GPU Desktop as a Service, or GDaaS. With most CAD, CAM, CAE programs built for utilizing all the CPU/GPU power available, desktop workstations have been the only solution, but with more people going mobile (and the lack of CAD mobile apps) leaves virtualization via a browser a viable option, not only for CAD users, but for software developers who would just as soon not develop mobile or browser-based apps.

GDaaS is client-configurable, browser-based platform pre-configured with an 8-core CPU, 32GB of RAM, 2GB GPU and a 200GB SSD virtual workstation. They have many applications already pre-installed including AutoCAD, LuciadLightspeed, SolidWorks, Revit, ArcGIS Pro, Inventor, and many others. Of course, it’s scaleable from there.

gdaas-server-config-models

This is how they illustrated it, over a year ago:

https://vimeo.com/105003162

As shown in the video, their cloud-based platform is built on Nvidia’s GRID technology, which is sort of a hybrid solution that provides virtual GPU (vGPU) power, powered by Nvidia’s K1 or K2 video cards, so that commands from virtual machines are transferred directly to the server-based GPU without the need for translation protocols and therefore don’t sacrifice server performance.

Cloudalize offers virtualization via HTML5 compliant browsers as well as through Citrix Receiver. They offer a traditional subscription package for those who rely on an annual service and a pay-as-you-go option for those needing a single project solution. Users can even rent GDaaS for a few hours if the need arises. A free trial is available here.

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