Tuesday, December 26th 2017
NVIDIA Forbids GeForce Driver Deployment in Data Centers
NVIDIA recently updated the end-user license agreement (EULA) for their GeForce Software. There's one particular statement in the limitations section that caught our eye. And it reads: No Datacenter Deployment. The SOFTWARE is not licensed for datacenter deployment, except that blockchain processing in a datacenter is permitted. It seems that NVIDIA isn't too happy with data centers that utilize GeForce and TITAN graphics cards instead of the more expensive Quadro or Tesla cards. With this prohibition in place, data centers are forced to either invest in NVIDIA's pricier offerings or completely switch over to AMD. Data centers that are using GeForce products for cryptocoin mining are unaffected by this change in the EULA.
Clearly, NVIDIA isn't wasting any time and has already started to enforce their new EULA. Sakura Internet, one of the largest data centers in Japan, was the first to receive a notice from NVIDIA to stop providing servers with TITAN X products.
Here's the Google-translated press release from Sakura:
Sakura's dedicated servers High-firing series Quad GPU new provision temporary suspension
December 21, 2017 Dear customers, Sakura Internet Inc. Thank you very much for your continued patronage of Sakura Internet.
On November 30, 2017, the licensing terms for the use of NVIDIA Corporation's driver software have been revised and the license terms for the latest GeForce driver software. The provision of "prohibition of introduction to the data center" has been added. For details, refer to Article 2.1.3 from the following URL.
In addition, we received written notice from NVIDIA Corporation. According to this notice, NVIDIA Corporation agrees to the above license terms on the GPU server service (Sakura's dedicated server high-fire series Quad GPU model) equipped with TITAN X provided by the Company, Based on the view that downloading the driver software for GeForce on the server is an infringement of copyright (reproduction right). We urge customers who have downloaded it on or after December 7, 2017 to stop offering the Quad GPU model.
We are currently considering NVIDIA Corporation's notice content with experts as well, but considering the possibility of inconvenience to our customers, we are considering the following "Sakura's dedicated server. We will temporarily suspend the new provision of the high-fire series Quad GPU model ".
We are sorry to cause inconvenience, but we will do our utmost to make it possible for our customers to use our services with confidence. We sincerely appreciate your continued patronage.
Sources:
NVIDIA, Sakura Internet
Here's the Google-translated press release from Sakura:
Sakura's dedicated servers High-firing series Quad GPU new provision temporary suspension
December 21, 2017 Dear customers, Sakura Internet Inc. Thank you very much for your continued patronage of Sakura Internet.
On November 30, 2017, the licensing terms for the use of NVIDIA Corporation's driver software have been revised and the license terms for the latest GeForce driver software. The provision of "prohibition of introduction to the data center" has been added. For details, refer to Article 2.1.3 from the following URL.
- Japanese:
- English:
In addition, we received written notice from NVIDIA Corporation. According to this notice, NVIDIA Corporation agrees to the above license terms on the GPU server service (Sakura's dedicated server high-fire series Quad GPU model) equipped with TITAN X provided by the Company, Based on the view that downloading the driver software for GeForce on the server is an infringement of copyright (reproduction right). We urge customers who have downloaded it on or after December 7, 2017 to stop offering the Quad GPU model.
We are currently considering NVIDIA Corporation's notice content with experts as well, but considering the possibility of inconvenience to our customers, we are considering the following "Sakura's dedicated server. We will temporarily suspend the new provision of the high-fire series Quad GPU model ".
- Quad GPU (Pascal) model: TITAN X (Pascal architecture) installed
- Quad GPU (Maxwell) model: TITAN X (Maxwell architecture) installed
We are sorry to cause inconvenience, but we will do our utmost to make it possible for our customers to use our services with confidence. We sincerely appreciate your continued patronage.
90 Comments on NVIDIA Forbids GeForce Driver Deployment in Data Centers
They did esentially the same with SLI and motherboard chipsets. A few vendors discovered how to enable SLI on Intel boards and got thier asses sued by those assholes.
Now this.
They make some great products, but I don't like the company and never will. That's my perogative, not yours.
1) Bumpgate Toshiba laptop that I never got reimbursement for.
2) Rip off 2GB memory on the GTX670, while 7950 card came with 3GB (I did something about that and sold the GTX670 to an nVidiot who payed $370 for it, and bought a new 7950 for $319)
3) GTX970 memory fiasco (I bought an R9 290 instead, which just keeps getting faster and faster than the GTX970 anyhow with DX12/Vulkan)
So that's strike 3 for them and they're OUT. Simple. Then there's the G-Sync Green Goblin tax. Now this.
Don't try to cover up their straight up lies. They sold a card with '4GB' Ram on the box knowing it couldn't really use all 4GB properly because they cheaped out on the memory controller. Then they tried to cover it up, and then, with a sh!t-eating grin on his face, Jensun 'apologized'. Right. Like he was truly sorry for scamming GTX970 owners for that extra $20 or $30 bucks a card. Right. No, they knew EXACTLY what they were doing, and simply didn't give a damn because everybody was going to buy their cheap junk anyhow.
It's time people grew a spine and said no to them. It the principle of the thing. Sure, every company makes mistakes, but that was no 'honest' mistake, it was a naked lie to rip you off. That's where I draw the line, and anybody else with any dignity should be doing the same. It's not fanboyism, it's simple dignity.
No more money for them from me. Ever.
Looking at BOINC projects, MilkyWay is one of the few GPU enabled projects that uses DP.
What is nvidia going to do? sue someone for buying their hardware? Nvidia cant actually enforce this rule, and they know it. Nvidia is counting on spineless HR and legal departments kotowing to them and their worthless EULA.