System requirements
Important
Azure Remote Rendering is currently in public preview. This preview version is provided without a service level agreement, and it's not recommended for production workloads. Certain features might not be supported or might have constrained capabilities. For more information, see Supplemental Terms of Use for Microsoft Azure Previews.
This chapter lists the minimum system requirements to work with Azure Remote Rendering (ARR).
Development PC
- Windows 10 version 1903 or higher.
- Up-to-date graphics drivers.
- Optional: H265 hardware video decoder, if you want to use local preview of remotely rendered content (for example in Unity).
Important
Windows update doesn't always deliver the very latest GPU drivers, check your GPU manufacturer's website for latest drivers:
The table below lists which GPUs support H265 hardware video decoding.
| GPU manufacturer | Supported models |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA | Check the NVDEC Support Matrix at the bottom of this page. Your GPU needs a YES in the H.265 4:2:0 8-bit column. |
| AMD | GPUs with at least version 6 of AMD's Unified Video Decoder. |
| Intel | Skylake and newer CPUs |
Even though the correct H265 codec might be installed, security properties on the codec DLLs may cause codec initialization failures. The troubleshooting guide describes steps how to solve this problem. The DLL issue can only occur when using the service in a desktop application, for instance in Unity.
Devices
Azure Remote Rendering currently only supports HoloLens 2 and Windows desktop as a target device. See the platform limitations section.
It's important to use the latest HEVC codec, as newer versions have significant improvements in latency. To check which version is installed on your device:
- Start the Microsoft Store.
- Click the "..." button in the top right.
- Select Downloads and Updates.
- Search the list for HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer. If this item is not listed under updates, the most recent version is already installed.
- Make sure the listed codec has at least version 1.0.21821.0.
- Click the Get Updates button and wait for it to install.
Network
A stable, low-latency network connection is critical for a good user experience.
See dedicated chapter for network requirements.
For troubleshooting network issues, refer to the Troubleshooting Guide.
Network firewall
SDK version >= 0.1.76
Remote Rendering virtual machines use shared IP addresses from the following IP ranges:
| Name | Region | IP prefix |
|---|---|---|
| Australia East | australiaeast | 20.53.44.240/28 |
| East US | eastus | 20.62.129.224/28 |
| East US 2 | eastus2 | 20.49.103.240/28 |
| Japan East | japaneast | 20.191.165.112/28 |
| North Europe | northeurope | 52.146.133.64/28 |
| South Central US | southcentralus | 20.65.132.80/28 |
| Southeast Asia | southeastasia | 20.195.64.224/28 |
| UK South | uksouth | 51.143.209.144/28 |
| West Europe | westeurope | 20.61.99.112/28 |
| West US 2 | westus2 | 20.51.9.64/28 |
Make sure that your firewalls (on device, inside routers, etc.) don't block these IP ranges and the following port ranges:
| Port | Protocol | Allow |
|---|---|---|
| 49152-65534 | TCP / UDP | Outgoing |
SDK version < 0.1.76
Make sure that your firewalls (on device, inside routers, etc.) don't block the following ports:
| Port | Protocol | Allow | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50051 | TCP | Outgoing | Initial connection (HTTP handshake) |
| 8266 | UDP | Outgoing | Data transfer |
| 5000, 5433, 8443 | TCP | Outgoing | Required for ArrInspector tool |
Software
The following software must be installed:
- The latest version of Visual Studio 2019 (download)
- Visual Studio tools for Mixed Reality. Specifically, the following Workload installations are mandatory:
- Desktop development with C++
- Universal Windows Platform (UWP) development
- Windows SDK 10.0.18362.0 (download)
- GIT (download)
- Optional: To view the video stream from the server on a desktop PC, you need the HEVC Video Extensions (Microsoft Store link). Ensure that the latest version is installed by checking for updates in the store.
Unity
For development with Unity, install
- Unity 2019.3.1 (download)
- Install these modules in Unity:
- UWP - Universal Windows Platform Build Support
- IL2CPP - Windows Build Support (IL2CPP)