Cisco UCSC-GPU-A16 | NVIDIA A16 Graphics Card, 64GB GDDR6, 250W Passive

Q: What is the primary use case for the UCSC-GPU-A16?
A: This GPU is designed specifically for high-density virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) deployments. It enables organizations to deliver graphics-rich virtual desktops and entry-level virtual workstations to remote users, supporting knowledge worker applications and CAD workloads with up to double the user density of previous generations.

Q: Which Cisco servers are compatible with this GPU?
A: The UCSC-GPU-A16 is compatible with Cisco UCS C-Series rack servers (such as C240 M8) and UCS X-Series modular systems (such as X440p PCIe Node). It requires a PCIe Gen4 x16 slot, appropriate riser configuration, and additional power cabling (UCS-P100CBL-240-D for C240 deployments).

Q: How many virtual desktops can one A16 GPU support?
A: The quad-GPU architecture allows flexible provisioning with mixed user profiles. Each of the four GPUs can be allocated independently, enabling different vGPU profile sizes on the same card. This unique design optimizes user density for VDI environments, supporting dozens of concurrent knowledge worker sessions or multiple virtual workstation users depending on workload requirements.

Q: What NVIDIA vGPU software is required?
A: The A16 requires NVIDIA vGPU software licensing: NVIDIA Virtual PC (vPC) for virtual desktops or NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation (vWS) for virtual workstations. Licensing is per-GPU basis. The hardware supports NVIDIA vGPU 13.0 and later versions.

Q: Does this GPU support compute workloads or just graphics?
A: While optimized for VDI graphics, the A16's NVIDIA Ampere architecture includes Tensor cores and RT cores, enabling AI inference, machine learning acceleration, and ray tracing capabilities. The CUDA cores can be leveraged for compute tasks when VDI resources are underutilized, providing deployment flexibility.