Settin up a Virtual Cluster

I'm working on a 2.66Mhz Quad Core and would like to do a couple of things:
First I'd like to be able to monitor the CPUs to see how much and how many processors Compressor is using.
Secondly, if its not using all of the core's how do I create a Virtual Cluster and get Compressor to use all of the cores?
If I accomplished this would it significantly increase the encoding performance? I guess if it does I might upgrade to an 8-core, if it doesn't I'll stay were I'm at.
As always, any suggestions or insight is greatly appreciated.

1. Activity Monitor. Found in Applications/Utilities.
2. Instructions here: http://www.digitalrebellion.com/blog/posts/usingcompressor_with_multiplecores.html
Yes it will speed you up considerably.

Similar Messages

Leopard - QMaster and Virtual Cluster problem

Hi guys,
Up until yesterday I had my MacPro Octo running under 10.4 where I did succesfully set up a Virtual Cluster using 4 instances for Compressor. It worked as a charm and my MacPro was doing it's job perfectly.
Today, I made a bootable backup of my 10.4 install and installed 10.5 using the erase and install options ( clean install ). I installed all my software again and tryed setting up my Virtual Cluster again, using the same settings I had under 10.4. Sadly I can't seem to get it working.
In the QMaster Preferences pane, I have the QuickCluster with Services option checked. For the compressor entry in the Services I have the Share Option checked and used 4 isntances for the selected service. The Quickcluster received a descent name and the option to include unmanaged services from other computers is checked.
I have the default options set in the Advanced tab, ( nothing checked except log service activity to log file and Show QMaster service status in the Menu Bar). I then started the Cluster using the Start Sharing button.
Now I open u Compressor and add a file to process ( QT encode to iPod ), but when I hit the Submit button, my Virtual Cluster doesn't show up in the Cluster Dropdown. If I now leave the Compressor GUI open for 5 minutes, it will eventually show up in the list, and I can pick it. Sadly, picking it from the list at this point and hitting the Submit button makes Compressor Hang.
I checked my logs, but the only thing concerning Compressor I could find is this :
4/12/07 20:12:35 Compressor[242] Could not find image named 'MPEG1-Output'.
4/12/07 20:12:35 Compressor[242] Could not find image named 'MPEG1-Output'.
4/12/07 20:12:35 Compressor[242] Could not find image named 'MPEG1-Output'.
4/12/07 20:12:41 Batch Monitor[190] * CDOClient::connect2: CException [NSException raised by 'NSPortTimeoutException', reason = '[NSPortCoder sendBeforeTime:sendReplyPort:] timed out (218488391.647220 218488361.647369) 1'], server [tcp://10.0.1.199:49167]
4/12/07 20:12:41 Batch Monitor[190] exception caught in -[ClusterStatus getNewStatusFromController:withOptions:withQueryList:]: NSException raised by 'NSPortTimeoutException', reason = '[NSPortCoder sendBeforeTime:sendReplyPort:] timed out (218488391.647220 218488361.647369) 1'
4/12/07 20:17:55 Batch Monitor[190] * CDOClient::connect2: CException [NSException raised by 'NSPortTimeoutException', reason = '[NSPortCoder sendBeforeTime:sendReplyPort:] timed out (218488705.075513 218488675.075652) 1'], server [tcp://10.0.1.199:49167]
I tried Stopping and then Restart Sharing and I noticed the follwoing entries in my log :
4/12/07 20:23:26 compressord[210] can't refresh cache from file "/Library/Application Support/Apple Qmaster/qmasterservices.plist"
4/12/07 20:23:26 compressord[211] can't refresh cache from file "/Library/Application Support/Apple Qmaster/qmasterservices.plist"
4/12/07 20:23:26 compressord[213] can't refresh cache from file "/Library/Application Support/Apple Qmaster/qmasterservices.plist"
4/12/07 20:23:26 qmasterca[269] can't refresh cache from file "/Library/Application Support/Apple Qmaster/qmasterservices.plist"
4/12/07 20:23:26 qmasterqd[199] can't refresh cache from file "/Library/Application Support/Apple Qmaster/qmasterservices.plist"
4/12/07 20:23:27 QmasterStatusMenu[178] * CDOClient::connect2: CException [NSException raised by 'NSPortTimeoutException', reason = '[NSPortCoder sendBeforeTime:sendReplyPort:] timed out (218489009.603992 218489007.604126) 1'], server [tcp://10.0.1.199:49407]
4/12/07 20:23:27 Batch Monitor[190] * CDOClient::connect2: CException [NSException raised by 'NSPortTimeoutException', reason = '[NSPortCoder sendBeforeTime:sendReplyPort:] timed out (218489037.738080 218489007.738169) 1'], server [tcp://10.0.1.199:49407]
4/12/07 20:23:27 Batch Monitor[190] exception caught in -[ClusterStatus getNewStatusFromController:withOptions:withQueryList:]: NSException raised by 'NSPortTimeoutException', reason = '[NSPortCoder sendBeforeTime:sendReplyPort:] timed out (218489037.738080 218489007.738169) 1'
Batch Monitor immediately detects the cluster being active again, but Compressor doesnt, leaving me only This Computer available in the Cluster drop down when submitting a batch.
In my Activity Monitor, I notice that CompressorTranscoder is not responing ( the 4 CompressorTranscoderX processes are fine ) and the ContentAgent proces isn't responding neither.
Does anyone have any clue on what I could check next or how I could fix my problems ?
Thanks a lot in advance,
Stefaan

Bah, this is crazy, today it doesn't work anymore. Yesterday my cluster was showing up in the Dropdown window, and I could submit a batch to it, and it got processed over my virtual cluster.
Today, after finishing the second part of my movie, I tried it again. I didn't change anything to my settings, my machine hasn't even rebooted (just recovered from sleep mode) and my cluster isn't showing up at all anymore. Even the Qmaster menu doesn't show it
Guess, I'll have to wait out until it appears again, or try a few things out

Compressor outputs pixelated H.264 video when using a virtual cluster

Hey all,
So for some reason, when I use compressor to convert my HDV .mov file to H.264, if I am using a virtual cluster (8 core Mac Pro5,1)the end product comes out pixelated. However, I just tried again without the virtual cluster, and it came out normal as usual. Anyone know what I am missing? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Whoops, I'm clearly not paying attention. The images are a little small so it's hard to see, but the first image is without the quick cluster, and the second is with the quick cluster

Virtual Cluster Does Not Show Up In Compressor

I have a clean install of Leopard and FCS2. All the updates completed and everything is running beautifully except that the Virtual Cluster I setup in Qmaster does not show up in Compressor as an option when submitting. The virtual cluster with 4 instances establishes itself and indicates that all services as 'Idle". The QuickCluster has the same name as the computer under "sharing" even though sharing is turned off. Services are seet as "Shared" not "Managed". Unfortunately, in Compressor the only option available is to render with "This computer". Any suggestions? Thanks, Jim

HI James, just quick suggestion from the airport lounge in Changi Singapore....
step1: using the usual procedure of RESETTING everything (compressor back ground tasks and system prefs/qmaster, option+click start (reset) and then *purging stuff for /var/spool/qmaste*r.... via the finder or trusty rm command.
*step 2:* that you use use QMASTER ADMINISTRATOR to create a cluster of controller and service node on your mac (*not a quick cluste*r).
Check that it is correctly established and 'APPLY' is.
TRy adding a batch to copressor and see if the new cluster appears and that you have the number of instances utilising the cores you specified.
lots of stuff on this forum on this.. just search
hth
w

Missing Virtual Cluster

I recently installed Snow Leopard and FCS 3 on my Dual Quad and I can't seem to get the previously working Virtual Cluster to show up any longer. I've restarted it and tried resetting it... It just never shows up as an option to submit a batch to from Compressor.
Anyone else having this problem or know what I can do to fix it?

Compressor 3.5 is much easier. My blog (www.bbalser.com/blog.html) shows how easy it is now.

INTEGO NET BARRIER CRASHES COMPRESSOR/QM, and says Virtual Cluster not seen

I just discovered via process of elimination that Intego Net Barrier 10.4.5 was crashing compressor. While Compressor was hung ("waiting" in Batch Monitor, would not allow cancel), I tried de-selecting different settings in NB, to no avail... BUT... when I disabled NB completely, compressor un-hung immediately and began processing my submission without a glitch, seeing even my virtual cluster.
Bye Bye Net Barrier.

I installed the Update Rollup 4 to my SCVMM 2012 SP1 installation, and this is ok now.
Mark

How to find SQLServer Virtual Cluster name for multiple servers?

Hi Team,
I have a huge clustered environment and have a document that shows all the Physical Node Names in the clusters. But unfortunately we do not have the Virtual Server Names. I know, we can only connect to SQL through Virtual Name so I would like to know if there
is an automated way to find the Virtual Cluster Names (or SQL Server Name). Like using PowerShell or other programming languages. I have tried looking at several forums but did that did not help.
Some points to think:
1) I know we can look it up by opening Failover Cluster Manager (FCM) but I have hundreds of servers. So that doesn't really help :(
2) I have tried Get-ClusterResource cmdlet in Powershell, it gives all the resources that are running but not the name. Like it gives "SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER)" and not the name.
3) Also I know we can find out using tsql command, SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('SERVERNAME') but again I cannot connect to SQL without the Virtual Name :)
I am pretty sure there should me a way to find it out using scrips since we are able to know it using GUI (FCM).
Really appreciate your help !!

Hi,
In addition, you can find the names of the Cluster , Individual Node Names and SQL Virtual Server Names in the registry. Use the PowerShell command to retrieve registry key values.
The following keys can be used to get the information:
Virtual Server Name
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\CLUSTER\ClusterName
Node Names
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\CLUSTER\NODES\1\NodeName
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\CLUSTER\NODES\2\NodeName
SQL Virtual Server Name:
HEKY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\MSSQLSERVER\CLUSTER\ClusterName
Additional information:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2012/05/11/use-powershell-to-enumerate-registry-property-values.aspx
Thanks.
Tracy Cai
TechNet Community Support

Can VPN Client automatically reconnect to virtual cluster IP..

Can VPN Client automatically reconnect to virtual cluster IP when current ASA fail or users must manually reconnect in VPN load balancing implementation?
Thank you in advance
Sirote

In my ASA 7.2 config, there is no "management-access inside" command, but it still work. Anyway, after I added this command in my ASA 8.0 config, it work. Thanks a lot.

Compressor - Droplets and Virtual Cluster

Just learned how to setup a virtual Cluster/Quick Cluster. Submitting a job to the local computer works just fine. When I submit a job to the Quick Cluster, Activity Mon and Batch Monitor do no processing. How do I point the droplet to a Virtual Cluster allowing ?

Bah, this is crazy, today it doesn't work anymore. Yesterday my cluster was showing up in the Dropdown window, and I could submit a batch to it, and it got processed over my virtual cluster.
Today, after finishing the second part of my movie, I tried it again. I didn't change anything to my settings, my machine hasn't even rebooted (just recovered from sleep mode) and my cluster isn't showing up at all anymore. Even the Qmaster menu doesn't show it
Guess, I'll have to wait out until it appears again, or try a few things out

Virtual Cluster

Ok so I have a MacBook Pro with a 2.8Ghz Core 2 Duo Processor. When I setup a Virtual Cluster (Quick Cluster) using only my computer, I selected two instances for Compressor to use. Since my computer only has two cores is this a bad thing for me to do?
Also, since my computer has the two different graphics cards, would switching to the better card increase FCP and Compressor speed?
Thanks
Matt

There are multiple ways to setup a virtual cluster. Some people prefer to use one less core then the total number of cores and others use half the number of cores. Either way If you only have two cores it is recommended to only use one.

Physical to Virtual Cluster using SAS - is it possible?

We're prepping to dramatically increase our IT infrastructure here, and I need a little advice. We're changing our practice management software from something running on a relatively lightweight database to MS SQL Server. With that we're planning a big upgrade
in computing and storage, plus we'd like to add failover clustering to help guarantee a certain level of service.
The current plan calls for 3 physical servers running WS2012R2 connected directly to a SAS array on an IBM DS3524. Physical server A will host the primary SQL Server database, plus a few light-usage VMs for testing and dev stuff. Physical server B will host
images and files, no SQL Server, plus a bunch of RDP VMs. Physical server C will host a nightly copy of the primary database used for heavy reports, plus another couple of VMs for various network functions.
Ideally we would like to cluster the physical server A to a VM on physical server B. I'm unsure, though, if that can be done using the direct attach SAS drives. We do not want to set up an iSCSI SAN.
Two questions, then:
Is this type of failover setup even possible? If so, how would we set up a shared storage between a physical server and a VM on a second physical server using direct attached SAS?
If this isn't possible, would we be better off virtualizing the primary database and clustering the two VMs (best practices from our software vendor recommend virtualizing everything *except* the primary DB server), or setting up a physical failover from Server
A to Server C? In the event of a failure, server C would then find itself hosting 2 databases, though we could restrict reporting during a failure to lighten load.
Thanks -
Mike

We're prepping to dramatically increase our IT infrastructure here, and I need a little advice. We're changing our practice management software from something running on a relatively lightweight database to MS SQL Server. With that we're planning a big upgrade
in computing and storage, plus we'd like to add failover clustering to help guarantee a certain level of service.
The current plan calls for 3 physical servers running WS2012R2 connected directly to a SAS array on an IBM DS3524. Physical server A will host the primary SQL Server database, plus a few light-usage VMs for testing and dev stuff. Physical server B will host
images and files, no SQL Server, plus a bunch of RDP VMs. Physical server C will host a nightly copy of the primary database used for heavy reports, plus another couple of VMs for various network functions.
Ideally we would like to cluster the physical server A to a VM on physical server B. I'm unsure, though, if that can be done using the direct attach SAS drives. We do not want to set up an iSCSI SAN.
Two questions, then:
Is this type of failover setup even possible? If so, how would we set up a shared storage between a physical server and a VM on a second physical server using direct attached SAS?
If this isn't possible, would we be better off virtualizing the primary database and clustering the two VMs (best practices from our software vendor recommend virtualizing everything *except* the primary DB server), or setting up a physical failover from Server
A to Server C? In the event of a failure, server C would then find itself hosting 2 databases, though we could restrict reporting during a failure to lighten load.
Thanks -
Mike
Discussed with more details on SpiceWorks here:
SpiceWorks Discussion
http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/462437-failover-cluster-2012r2-physical-to-virtual-sas
Making long story short: use shared VHDX. Quote:
You need to have 100% virtualized workload and then you can use shared VHDX placed on CSV placed on top of your clustered storage (SAS + Clustered Storage Spaces). That would do the trick. See:
Shared
VHDX
http://blogs.technet.com/b/storageserver/archive/2013/11/25/shared-vhdx-files-my-favorite-new-featur...
Shared VHDX in Failover Cluster
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn265980.aspx
Clustered Storage Spaces
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj822937.aspx
Another option you've mentioned is to run clustered MSFT target on top of a SAS-back ended cluster. But that's both slow and ugly. Another option would be using clustered out-of-box iSCSI stack but that's not free and makes less sense as you have IBM SAS already.
StarWind VSAN [Virtual SAN] clusters Hyper-V without SAS, Fibre Channel, SMB 3.0 or iSCSI, uses Ethernet to mirror internally mounted SATA disks between hosts.

Physical to virtual cluster

Hi,
We have windows server 2008 two node cluster active/passive. We have few named instances of sql server 2008 and r2. Our management is planning to virtualize almost everything to save money. Their plan is to virtualize cluser. So our plan is:
1. Create two virtual nodes on existing cluster.
2. Failover one physical node to virtual and then remove physical node.
3. Failover second physical node to second virtual node and remove second physical node.
4. This is production server and applications are connected to different instances.
My question is based on your experience whether it is possible. If possible any impact on application.
Thanks

As what Mark already mentioned, this is possible. But before looking at the implementation details, you need to answer a few questions to determine whether or not this is the right way to go.
Why did you implement a SQL Server Failover Cluster? Is it for high availability?
What is your mean time to recovery (MTTR) goal?
Have you measured your database performance - CPU, memory, IO, etc. - on the physical machines running on a cluster? This is very important if you are considering moving to virtual machines.
If you move to virtual machines and your goal for having a cluster is still for high availability, how do you intend to protect the physical machine running the virtual machine? Have you considered implementing a highly available virtualization platform
such as Microsoft Hyper-V with Failover Clustering or VMWare vSphere? There are numerous combinations of solutions to achieve what you want but if your goal is high availability, it always comes at a price. Make sure that you are not cutting costs just for
the sake of it. Let your availability goals dictate your solution.
Edwin Sarmiento SQL Server MVP
Blog |
Twitter | LinkedIn

Moving Physical Cluster into Virtual Cluster

Hello All...........I have a Physical SQL Cluster 1 cluster1.domain.com (Node A and
Node B) using SAN A. Physical SQL Cluster contains
three-3 instances.
I have built a Hyper-V Failover Cluster and upon it I have also built a Guest/Virtual SQL Cluster 2
cluster2.domain.com (Node A and Node B) using SAN B.
Now, I want to move the instance/databases from Physical SQL Cluster 1 cluster1.domain.com to Guest/Virtual SQL Cluster 2 cluster2.domain.com. Is this supported?
Or do I have to add the Virtual Nodes (NodeC and
NodeD) to cluster1.domain.com and then failover the
instances/database to new virtual nodes and then remove the Physical Nodes (NodeA and
NodeB).
Also, confused as to how would I manage the Storage as old Physical SQL Cluster
cluster1.domain.com uses SAN A and I have new Virtual SQL Cluster
cluster2.domain.com on SAN B. Would I be requiring to change the instances/databases location as well?
Any help on this would be appreciated.

Hello,
There is a good bit of different things going on here so I'll try and make it short.
Normally, it wouldn't be a problem to add in new nodes (virtual) to the current physical, install SQL Server, and eventually evict the physical nodes in order to migrate. However, you're using a different SAN for the storage. You could *still* do this, but
you'd need to have SAN replication on the backend between the two and set it up very much like a 2008/R2 geo-cluster.
The *easier* way, depending on clients, would be to either log-ship or mirror the databases to the new instances. When you have time to cutover, fail the mirrors to the new cluster and then remove mirroring. The clients would need to either be aliased or
re-pointed. It could be done less cleanly by using a cname change for the old to the new but I'd stay away from that.
-Sean
The views, opinions, and posts do not reflect those of my company and are solely my own. No warranty, service, or results are expressed or implied.

Extending Physical Cluster into Virtual Cluster

Hello All...........I have a Physical SQL Cluster cluster.domain.com (Physical_NodeA and
Physical_NodeB) using SAN A. Physical SQL Cluster contains
three-3 instances. I intend to move this cluster into my Hyper-V Failover Cluster enviornment and I want to get rid of both Physical nodes (Physical_NodeA and
Physical_NodeB) along with shared storage on SAN A. I have devised following approach:
- Extend existing Physical Cluster cluster.domain.com on
(Physical_NodeA and Physical_NobeB) with shared storage
SAN A
- By adding Virtual Nodes (Virtual_NodeC and
Virtual_NodeD) to cluster.domain.com
- Creating LUN/s that are shared by all four nodes (Physical_NodeA, Physical_NodeB, Virtual_NodeC and Virtual NodeD) on
SAN B
- Moving Instances/Databases location to new LUN/s on
SAN B
- Failover to new Virtual Nodes either Virtual_NodeC or
Virtual_NodeD
- Evict Physical_NodeA and Physical_NodeB
- Remove Physical_NodeA and Physical_NodeB from Host Group at
SAN A
- Remove LUN/s from SAN A.
Your thought on above procedure would be appreciated.

I am not sure why you want to do all of these.
Why cant you just get the new virtual environment up and running with SQL Server and just migrate the databases to the new cluster?
I think the amount of downtime you incur would be less in this approach.
Regards, Ashwin Menon My Blog - http:\\sqllearnings.com

How to find SQLServer Virtual Cluster name

team,
if you have 2 node active/passive cluster with several named instances of SQLServer. How do you find the SQLServer Virtual name on one of the hosts? The only way to connect to SQLServer is via Virtual name and in a situation I dont have that info - how can
I find it in the registry etc etc
I know for sql 2005 - i can use configuration manager to identify the virtual name but in 2008 there is no config manager...
thanks!

declare @Virtualname varchar(255)
declare @Virtual varchar(255)
create table #clusterinfo(info varchar (255))
insert into #clusterinfo
exec master..xp_cmdshell 'cluster
resource /status'
insert into #clusterinfo
exec master..xp_cmdshell 'cluster
node /status'
insert into #clusterinfo
exec master..xp_cmdshell 'cluster
group /status'
select * from #clusterinfo where info IS NOT NULL and info not like '%---%'
--drop table #clusterinfo

Settin up a Virtual Cluster

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