AMD SKY technology powers the ecosystem that enables AMD FirePro™ S-series server cards and AMD Radeon™ SKY Series graphics cards to be used to power Visual Cloud applications in both commercial and consumer workflows.

AMD FirePro S-series cards and AMD SKY Technology enable high quality Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and Virtualized Workstation installations by accelerating graphics content via AMD GPUs deployed in the Cloud. With AMD FirePro S-Series cards, engineering, financial, educational, medical and other workstation applications can be used seamlessly by professional users working on thin or zero clients but with native response times, for a graphically rich and highly response experience.

When AMD Radeon SKY-series cards and AMD SKY Technology are combined, service providers can stream multiple games from the Cloud to consumers, delivering a high quality, low latency gaming experience to a wide variety of devices.

AMD SKY Technology is compatible with middleware from third parties, like Ubitus, Eureva, G-Cluster and Leap Computing, and also features the AMD RapidFire SDK for optimal desktop or application remoting. There are a number of features that address the specific needs of each workflow. This simplifies the manipulation of key hardware controls and provides HD visual quality, minimal latency and optimal network bandwidth resulting in a compelling and responsive experience from any device over the Internet.

  AMD SKY Technology¹
Hypervisor Support VMware® ESXi
Citrix® XenServer
Microsoft® Hyper-V
Xen Project
Multi-GPU System Support
(Configure mulitple GPUs in one system under a single hypervisor)		 VMware vDGA
Xen Project
Multi-VM Shared GPU Support
(Enables multiple virtual machines to share a single GPU)		 VMware vSGA
Microsoft RemoteFX
Citrix XenApp
Remote Access & Display Software Support HP Remote Graphics Software
Teradici PCoIP
AMD RapidFire SDK
AMD Eyefinity technology (up to six remote displays per GPU²)
Hardware Accelerated Codecs³ Independent H.264 video encode and decode (separate from GPU rendering)
Encode HD resolutions at 1920x1200 and 1280x720 (@ 30 FPS)
  • AMD RapidFire SDKOpen or Close

    A unique offering of AMD SKY technology, the AMD RapidFire SDK facilitates the use of AMD’s independent on board H.264 encoder. Every AMD FirePro™ S-Series and AMD Radeon™ SKY graphics card is capable of encoding multiple simultaneous streams of H.264 at different resolutions and quality settings without impacting GPU performance. The AMD RapidFire SDK helps to optimize the data encoding path to reduce latency and incorporates defined presets to minimize integration efforts and speed up development time. Further, the AMD RapidFire SDK simplifies the manipulation of key hardware parameters such as resolution, frame rate and bitrate control to minimize network bandwidth while delivering high definition images.

    Cloud Gaming

    With the AMD RapidFire SDK, cloud service providers and middleware cloud gaming vendors can seamlessly stream AAA titles or casual games over the Internet to a variety of consumer devices. AMD RapidFire provides the flexibility of delivering multiple game streams at HD resolution. The end result is a console quality gaming experience on virtually any device – including smartphones, smart TVs, tablets, notebooks and desktops. The benefit is a consolidated data center running an optimal number of games per GPU.

    Virtualization

    IT departments are increasingly moving employees to virtualized desktops or streaming applications that reside in the data center. The AMD RapidFire SDK works behind the scenes to ensure that desktop or application delivery over the corporate network is as responsive as a local experience. This includes both the graphical imagery displayed on the screen as well as capturing user interaction, e.g. keyboard strokes or mouse movement. From power users to knowledge workers, AMD RapidFire helps deliver a no compromise remoted experience.

    The AMD RapidFire SDK includes¹:

    • H.264 Encode
    • H.264 Decode
    • Desktop or Window Capture
    • Support for OpenGL 4.3, DirectX® 9 and 11.1
    • Remote User Interface Intercept (e.g. remote keyboard, mouse)

    In line with AMD’s commitment to industry standard APIs, like OpenCL™, DirectX® and OpenGL, an industry standard API for Cloud Gaming and Virtualization can help to align both industries around one platform and drive continued innovations that benefit consumers and businesses alike.

     

Quick Overview of AMD FirePro S-series for VDI and Virtualized Workstation
  S7000 S9050 S9100 S9150 S10000 Passive
GCN Stream Processors 1280 1792 2816 1792 2x 1792
AMD SKY Technology Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Single-Precision (GFLOPS) 2400 3230 4220 5070 5910
Double-Precision (GFLOPS) 152 806 2110 2530 1480
On-board Memory 4GB GDDR5 12GB GDDR5 12GB GDDR5 16GB GDDR5 6GB or 12GB GDDR5
ECC No Yes Yes (external) Yes (external) Yes
Memory Bandwidth (GB/s) 154 264 320 320 480
Interface PCIe 3.0, Single slot PCIe 3.0, Dual slot PCIe 3.0, Dual slot PCIe 3.0, Dual slot PCIe 3.0, Dual slot
Max Power 150W 225W 225W 235W 375W
Cooling Passive Heatsink Passive Heatsink Passive Heatsink Passive Heatsink Passive Heatsink
Driver Support AMD FirePro only AMD FirePro only AMD FirePro only AMD FirePro only AMD FirePro only

Explore the AMD S-Series

 

 

Quick Overview of AMD Radeon Sky Series for Cloud Gaming
  Sky 500 Sky 700 Sky 900
GCN Stream Processors 1280 1792 2x 1792
AMD SKY Technology Yes Yes Yes
Single-Precision (GFLOPS) 2400 3230 5910
Double-Precision (GFLOPS) 152 806 1480
# of Concurrent Game Streams4 Up to six mainstream or casual games Up to six high performance HD games Six or more high performance HD games
On-board Memory 4GB GDDR5 6GB GDDR5 6GB GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth 154 176 480
Interface 256-bit 384-bit 384-bit
Max Power <150W <225W <300W
Cooling Passive Heatsink Passive Heatsink Passive Heatsink
Driver Support AMD Radeon only AMD Radeon only AMD Radeon only

Explore the AMD Radeon Sky Series