# GitHub - nestrilabs/virtio-nvgpu

> Share one NVIDIA GPU across multiple VMs at bare-metal speed with NVIDIA drivers.
- Title: GitHub - nestrilabs/virtio-nvgpu · GitHub | Shortify
- Summary: Share one NVIDIA GPU across multiple VMs at bare-metal speed with NVIDIA drivers. Nestri's virtio-nvgpu lets users run NVIDIA GPU workloads in multiple…
- Keywords: virtio-nvgpu, nvidia, microvm, gpu, nvenc, cuda, virtio, nestrilabs, linux, vulkan, technology, startups
- Source: GitHub — https://github.com/nestrilabs/virtio-nvgpu
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: virtio-nvgpu, nvidia, microvm, gpu, nvenc, cuda, virtio, nestrilabs, linux, vulkan, technology, startups
## What is virtio-nvgpu
Share one NVIDIA GPU across several VMs at bare-metal speed.

> Share one NVIDIA GPU across several VMs, at bare-metal speed.
## Why traditional methods fail
Passthrough locks the whole GPU to one VM. vGPU costs real money and only works on datacenter cards.

> Passthrough locks the whole GPU to one VM. vGPU costs real money and only works on datacenter cards.
## How it works
virtio-nvgpu forwards the NVIDIA driver instead of the graphics API. The guest builds its own GPU commands and writes them straight to GPU memory.

> virtio-nvgpu forwards the NVIDIA driver instead of the graphics API. The guest builds its own GPU commands and writes them straight to GPU memory
## Performance
On an RTX 3060: Within 2% of bare metal for any real game frame (>2 ms). Same CPU cost as running on the host.

> On an RTX 3060: Within 2% of bare metal for any real game frame (>2 ms)
## Who it's for
People who stream games or GPU apps from headless VMs (cloud gaming, remote desktops, CI with a real GPU, selfhosted "serverless" AI) on consumer NVIDIA cards.

> People who stream games or GPU apps from headless VMs (cloud gaming, remote desktops, CI with a real GPU, selfhosted "serverless" AI) on consumer NVIDIA cards.
## Before you use it
It isn't hardware isolation. The host NVIDIA driver is the trust boundary. If your tenants don't trust each other, use passthrough or vGPU.

> It isn't hardware isolation. The host NVIDIA driver is the trust boundary. If your tenants don't trust each other, use passthrough or vGPU.
## Key takeaway

Nestri's virtio-nvgpu lets users run NVIDIA GPU workloads in multiple microVMs without vGPU licenses or VFIO passthrough.