PCoIP Remote Workstation Card Overview¶

This guide is intended for systems administrators who are configuring, managing, and deploying PCoIP® Remote Workstation Cards in a PCoIP environment. Administrators are expected to have experience configuring PCoIP clients, and have a working knowledge of networking principals and using the PCoIP protocol.

Understanding terms in our guides

For information on the industry specific terms and abbreviations in this guide, see the Glossary.

A PCoIP Remote Workstation Card is a small add-in card that can be integrated into tower workstations, rack mount workstations, computer blades, and server blades. PCoIP Remote Workstation Cards are manufactured and integrated by various display card manufacturers, supporting widescreen formats, and are powered by TERA2220 or TERA2240 processors. The card's TERA-series processor uses advanced display compression algorithms to encode a user's full workstation environment and then communicated over an IP network to the user's PCoIP client endpoint. Because PCoIP Remote Workstation Cards do not have general purpose CPUs, local data storage, or application operating systems, they are very secure and easy to manage. This is separate from the host PC which does have general purpose CPUs and local data storage. PCoIP Remote Workstation Cards contain upgradable firmware that enables you to customize your PCoIP Remote Workstation Card with various features.

Tera processor

The processor name refers to the chipset used in the PCoIP device. For example, TERA2240 is the processor used in the second-generation TERA2240 PCIe Remote Workstation Card (for tower PC or rack mount workstations) and TERA2240 PCI Mezzanine Remote Workstation Card (for blade workstations). For details on how to display the processor name for your device, see Displaying Processor Information.

Supported Resolutions for PCoIP Remote Workstation Cards

Remote Workstation Card Processor Name	Maximum No. of Supported Displays and Resolutions
TERA2220	2 x 1920x1200 1 x 2560x1600¹ 1 x 3840x2160²
TERA2240	4 x 1920x1200 2 x 2560x1600¹ 2 x 3840x2160²

You can mix and match any Remote Workstation Card with any PCoIP Zero Client. However, when you connect a PCoIP Zero Client endpoint to a Remote Workstation Card, the maximum supported resolutions for any displays attached to the endpoint will equal the highest common denominator between the two devices. For example, if you connect a TERA2140 PCoIP Zero Client to a TERA2240 Remote Workstation Card, you can attach up to four 1920x1200 displays or two 3840x2160 displays. However, if you connect a TERA2321 PCoIP Zero Client to the same Remote Workstation Card, the options become up to two 1920x1200 displays or one 3840x2160 display.

PCoIP Software Clients and PCoIP enabled thin clients also offer alternative client endpoints to connect to Remote Workstation Cards.

Best Security Practices

We highly recommends using custom peer-to-peer certificates to create a more secure environment when connecting to your Remote Workstation Card. We highly recommends using this new feature to create a more secure environment. Contact your IT department to ensure your deployment is in accordance with your Company's security policy.

Platforms¶

Remote Workstation Cards are supported on host PCs using Windows or Linux platforms when the host PC supports PCIe x1 required to install the PCoIP Remote Workstation Card. Additionally, we provide an optional software package that can be installed on the host PC. The software package called Remote Workstation Card Software for Windows (or Linux) is specific to each platform and communicates with the Remote Workstation Card adding additional features and performance enhancements. For more information on the Remote Workstation Card Software see PCoIP® Remote Workstation Card Software for Linux Administrators' Guide and "PCoIP® Remote Workstation Card Software for Windows Administrators' Guide.

Remote Workstation Card Software and Firmware features

Some features of the Remote Workstation Card Software may require a minimum firmware version on the PCoIP Remote Workstation Card and the PCoIP Zero Client. Always review the release notes for feature requirements.

Wacom Tablet Support for PCoIP sessions to Remote Workstation Card

Wacom tablets attached to Zero Clients support local termination when connecting to Remote Workstation Cards in a Linux environment. Use the latest release of your Zero Client firmware, for the most up to date support of Wacom tablets. It is recommended to use the latest release of Remote Workstation Card Software to maintain local cursor support on the client side, and to have best performance in sessions with the Remote Workstation Card when the latest Wacom drivers are used. For more information see the tablet reference in the Zero Client Administrators' Guide.

Some PCoIP enabled thin clients also support Wacom tablets. Check with your PCoIP enabled thin client manufacturer if they support Wacom tablets with PCoIP.

Host Driver Function¶

When enabled, the Host Driver Function allows the PCoIP Remote Workstation Card Software installed on the host computer to communicate with the PCoIP Remote Workstation Card. This setting is disabled by default. You can enable this setting by logging in to the Remote Workstation Card from the AWI page—Configuration > Host Driver Function.

When disabled, you will not be able to access to additional features provided by the Remote Workstation Card Software. If the Host Driver function is disabled:

the Remote Workstation Card Software for Linux installation will alert you it cannot find a PCoIP Remote Workstation Card
the Remote Workstation Card Software for Windows will not install

Identifying PCoIP Remote Workstation Card

On your Windows host PC, use device manager to see if a PCoIP Remote Workstation Card is installed. This works if the Host Driver Function is enabled. On your Linux host PC, open the command prompt and type lspci | grep -i tera to see if a PCoIP Remote Workstation Card is installed.

PCoIP Remote Workstation Card Software for Windows or Linux¶

Optionally, once the PCoIP Remote Workstation Card is installed in the host PC, you can install the PCoIP Remote Workstation Card Software package on the host PC/workstation to allow you to manage the card directly from the PCoIP Remote Workstation Card Software UI on the workstation. The Remote Workstation Card Software lets users enable features such as the following:

Using the local cursor and keyboard feature
Locking the host PC when a session is terminated
Using the Wake-on-LAN function
Viewing host and client network parameters
Disconnecting a session
Viewing host statistics and connection information
Using the client display topology settings on the host

For detailed instructions on how to install the PCoIP Remote Workstation Card Software, please see PCoIP® Remote Workstation Card Software for Windows User Guide or PCoIP® Remote Workstation Card Software for Linux User Guide.

Host Driver Function must be enabled

Before installing the Remote Workstation Card Software package for Linux or Windows on the host computer, the Host Driver Function must be enabled. This setting is disabled by default.

Remote Workstation Cards support 2560x1600 resolution on attached displays using either DVI (with Y-cable) or miniDisplayPort interfaces. For instructions on how to connect cables to Tera2 PCoIP Remote Workstation Cards with DVI and/or DisplayPort ports to support this resolution, see knowledge base article 1025. ↩↩
Dual mini-DisplayPort Remote Workstation Cards can support 1 3840x2160 @ 30 Hz (4K UHD) display running at 15 FPS when the changing content is full screen. A video that takes up half of the screen can run at 30 FPS.
Quad mini DisplayPort Remote Workstation Cards can support up to 2 4K UHD @ 30 Hz displays running 30 FPS for a full screen while the other display is static. ↩↩