What is a render farm?

I read a post that said build a render farm and it will be faster....
What is a render farm?
How do you build one?
JKai

I read a post that said build a render farm and it will be faster....
It will. But only for certain things. QMASTER allows you to spread the render across several processors and several machines, but only COMPRESSOR in the Final Cut Studio packages can utilize it. FCP cannot, Motion and Color cannot.
What is a render farm?
Several machines connected together, say via Ethernet for example, that all put their processing power towards completing a task of crunching data.
How do you build one?
Well, in your case, and in mine...hire someone to do it. This is a seriously technical thing. But as I said, it really doesn't help to have one with FCS. Only Compressor can utilize it. Get your network IT guy to connect all the computers via Ethernet, and install QMASTER on all of them...then you can get one going. But there's more to it than that.
Shane

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       </service>
       <service type="servicecontroller:com.apple.stomp.transcoder" displayName="mc-27-imac" hostName="mc-27-imac-2.local" managed="false" address="tcp://172.20.10.8:49166">
          <logs tms="403310666.066" tmt="10/12/2013 15:44:26.066" pnm="CompressorTranscoderX">
             <mrk tms="405381297.306" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:57.306" pid="122" kind="begin" what="service-request" req-id="FDC914D3-4A0A-4431-948A-137D9A76AD03:7" msg="Preprocessing."></mrk>
             <mrk tms="405381297.306" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:57.306" pid="122" kind="begin" what="CServiceControllerServer::mountClusterStorage"></mrk>
             <log tms="405381297.306" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:57.306" pid="122" msg="Cluster storage URL = nfs://mc-27-thin-imac.local/private/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared" />
             <log tms="405381297.307" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:57.307" pid="122" msg="Local subscribe path = /var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared"/>
             <log tms="405381297.307" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:57.307" pid="122" msg="Subscribing to shared storage."/>
             <mrk tms="405381297.322" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:57.322" pid="122" kind="end" what="CServiceControllerServer::mountClusterStorage"></mrk>
             <mrk tms="405381297.322" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:57.322" pid="122" kind="begin" what="CServiceControllerServer::checkRequiredFiles"></mrk>
             <log tms="405381297.323" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:57.323" pid="122" msg="Source file /var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared/Checklist-A9A8BE65-F4F2-4BB5-AA92-8 75CA53F8D9A.mov is directly accessible."/>
             <log tms="405381297.324" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:57.324" pid="122" msg="Source file can be opened."/>
             <log tms="405381297.326" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:57.326" pid="122" msg="Source file can be read."/>
             <mrk tms="405381297.326" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:57.326" pid="122" kind="end" what="CServiceControllerServer::checkRequiredFiles"></mrk>
             <log tms="405381297.331" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:57.331" pid="122" msg="preProcess for job target: file://localhost/Users/nccvideo/Desktop/Checklist-Vimeo%20HD.mov"/>
             <log tms="405381297.865" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:57.865" pid="122" msg="done preProcess for job target: file://localhost/Users/nccvideo/Desktop/Checklist-Vimeo%20HD.mov"/>
             <log tms="405381297.891" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:57.891" pid="122" msg="Unsubscribing to shared storage: URL = nfs://mc-27-thin-imac.local/private/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared, local path = /var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared"/>
             <mrk tms="405381302.310" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:02.310" pid="122" kind="end" what="service-request" req-id="FDC914D3-4A0A-4431-948A-137D9A76AD03:7" msg="Preprocessing service request end."></mrk>
             <mrk tms="405381302.505" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:02.505" pid="122" kind="begin" what="service-request" req-id="B07BFEAB-40E3-4136-A4EC-027048E1E2DC:1" msg="Processing."></mrk>
             <mrk tms="405381302.506" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:02.506" pid="122" kind="begin" what="CServiceControllerServer::mountClusterStorage"></mrk>
             <log tms="405381302.506" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:02.506" pid="122" msg="Cluster storage URL = nfs://mc-27-thin-imac.local/private/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared" />
             <log tms="405381302.506" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:02.506" pid="122" msg="Local subscribe path = /var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared"/>
             <log tms="405381302.506" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:02.506" pid="122" msg="Subscribing to shared storage."/>
             <mrk tms="405381302.519" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:02.519" pid="122" kind="end" what="CServiceControllerServer::mountClusterStorage"></mrk>
             <mrk tms="405381302.519" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:02.519" pid="122" kind="begin" what="CServiceControllerServer::checkRequiredFiles"></mrk>
             <log tms="405381302.520" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:02.520" pid="122" msg="Source file /var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared/Checklist-A9A8BE65-F4F2-4BB5-AA92-8 75CA53F8D9A.mov is directly accessible."/>
             <log tms="405381302.520" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:02.520" pid="122" msg="Source file can be opened."/>
             <log tms="405381302.522" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:02.522" pid="122" msg="Source file can be read."/>
             <mrk tms="405381302.522" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:02.522" pid="122" kind="end" what="CServiceControllerServer::checkRequiredFiles"></mrk>
             <log tms="405381302.528" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:02.528" pid="122" msg="starting _processRequest for job target: file://localhost/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared/Checklist-Vimeo%20H D-F12CF6CD-0DCA-41EB-9BD6-557B63EB3E41.mov-5"/>
             <log tms="405381302.528" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:02.528" pid="122" msg="Writing transcode segment: file://localhost/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared/Checklist-Vimeo%20H D-F12CF6CD-0DCA-41EB-9BD6-557B63EB3E41.mov-5"/>
             <log tms="405381302.580" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:02.580" pid="122" msg="QuickTime Transcode, rendering in YUV 8 bit 422"/>
             <mrk tms="405381352.679" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:52.679" pid="122" what="service-request" req-id="B07BFEAB-40E3-4136-A4EC-027048E1E2DC:1" msg="Cancelling."></mrk>
             <log tms="405381352.776" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:52.776" pid="122" msg="QuickTime Transcode aborted by user: 50.1935 seconds.  status = 0"/>
             <log tms="405381352.777" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:52.777" pid="122" msg="Done _processRequest for job target: file://localhost/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared/Checklist-Vimeo%20H D-F12CF6CD-0DCA-41EB-9BD6-557B63EB3E41.mov-5"/>
             <log tms="405381352.777" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:52.777" pid="122" msg="Unsubscribing to shared storage: URL = nfs://mc-27-thin-imac.local/private/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared, local path = /var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared"/>
             <mrk tms="405381357.538" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:57.538" pid="122" kind="end" what="service-request" req-id="B07BFEAB-40E3-4136-A4EC-027048E1E2DC:1" msg="Processing service request end."></mrk>
          </logs>
       </service>
       <service type="servicecontroller:com.apple.stomp.transcoder" displayName="NCC’s iMac" address="tcp://127.0.0.1:49243" hostName="mc-27-thin-imac.local">
          <logs tms="405381920.887" tmt="11/05/2013 14:05:20.887" pnm="CompressorTranscoder">
             <log tms="405381920.887" tmt="11/05/2013 14:05:20.887" pid="289" kind="mrk" sub="error" what="get-log" avail="false" msg="Not logging to file."/>
          </logs>
       </service>
       <service type="servicecontroller:com.apple.stomp.transcoder" displayName="mc-21-imac" hostName="mc-21-imac.local" managed="false" address="tcp://172.20.10.4:49160">
          <logs tms="403310199.775" tmt="10/12/2013 15:36:39.775" pnm="CompressorTranscoderX">
             <mrk tms="405381225.047" tmt="11/05/2013 13:53:45.047" pid="150" kind="begin" what="service-request" req-id="10FFCD5A-52B4-460C-B651-63414EE146EA:1" msg="Processing."></mrk>
             <mrk tms="405381225.072" tmt="11/05/2013 13:53:45.072" pid="150" kind="begin" what="CServiceControllerServer::mountClusterStorage"></mrk>
             <log tms="405381225.072" tmt="11/05/2013 13:53:45.072" pid="150" msg="Cluster storage URL = nfs://mc-27-thin-imac.local/private/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared" />
             <log tms="405381225.106" tmt="11/05/2013 13:53:45.106" pid="150" msg="Local subscribe path = /var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared"/>
             <log tms="405381225.106" tmt="11/05/2013 13:53:45.106" pid="150" msg="Subscribing to shared storage."/>
             <mrk tms="405381225.390" tmt="11/05/2013 13:53:45.390" pid="150" kind="end" what="CServiceControllerServer::mountClusterStorage"></mrk>
             <mrk tms="405381225.390" tmt="11/05/2013 13:53:45.390" pid="150" kind="begin" what="CServiceControllerServer::checkRequiredFiles"></mrk>
             <log tms="405381225.392" tmt="11/05/2013 13:53:45.392" pid="150" msg="Source file /var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared/Checklist-A9A8BE65-F4F2-4BB5-AA92-8 75CA53F8D9A.mov is directly accessible."/>
             <log tms="405381225.393" tmt="11/05/2013 13:53:45.393" pid="150" msg="Source file can be opened."/>
             <log tms="405381225.395" tmt="11/05/2013 13:53:45.395" pid="150" msg="Source file can be read."/>
             <mrk tms="405381225.395" tmt="11/05/2013 13:53:45.395" pid="150" kind="end" what="CServiceControllerServer::checkRequiredFiles"></mrk>
             <log tms="405381225.402" tmt="11/05/2013 13:53:45.402" pid="150" msg="starting _processRequest for job target: file://localhost/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared/Checklist-Vimeo%20H D-F12CF6CD-0DCA-41EB-9BD6-557B63EB3E41.mov-6"/>
             <log tms="405381225.402" tmt="11/05/2013 13:53:45.402" pid="150" msg="Writing transcode segment: file://localhost/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared/Checklist-Vimeo%20H D-F12CF6CD-0DCA-41EB-9BD6-557B63EB3E41.mov-6"/>
             <log tms="405381225.495" tmt="11/05/2013 13:53:45.495" pid="150" msg="QuickTime Transcode, rendering in YUV 8 bit 422"/>
             <log tms="405381270.026" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:30.026" pid="150" msg="Time for QuickTime transcode: 44.5298 seconds.  status = -36"/>
             <log tms="405381270.028" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:30.028" pid="150" msg="Done _processRequest for job target: file://localhost/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared/Checklist-Vimeo%20H D-F12CF6CD-0DCA-41EB-9BD6-557B63EB3E41.mov-6"/>
             <log tms="405381270.029" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:30.029" pid="150" msg="Unsubscribing to shared storage: URL = nfs://mc-27-thin-imac.local/private/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared, local path = /var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared"/>
             <mrk tms="405381275.107" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.107" pid="150" kind="end" what="service-request" req-id="10FFCD5A-52B4-460C-B651-63414EE146EA:1" msg="Processing service request error: QuickTime Error: -36"></mrk>
             <mrk tms="405381275.162" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.162" pid="150" kind="begin" what="service-request" req-id="A9E024F4-2FCB-4355-B7AD-C5A69764BD46:1" msg="Processing."></mrk>
             <mrk tms="405381275.162" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.162" pid="150" kind="begin" what="CServiceControllerServer::mountClusterStorage"></mrk>
             <log tms="405381275.162" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.162" pid="150" msg="Cluster storage URL = nfs://mc-27-thin-imac.local/private/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared" />
             <log tms="405381275.163" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.163" pid="150" msg="Local subscribe path = /var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared"/>
             <log tms="405381275.163" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.163" pid="150" msg="Subscribing to shared storage."/>
             <mrk tms="405381275.180" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.180" pid="150" what="service-request" req-id="A9E024F4-2FCB-4355-B7AD-C5A69764BD46:1" msg="Cancelling."></mrk>
             <mrk tms="405381275.207" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.207" pid="150" kind="end" what="CServiceControllerServer::mountClusterStorage"></mrk>
             <mrk tms="405381275.207" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.207" pid="150" kind="begin" what="CServiceControllerServer::checkRequiredFiles"></mrk>
             <log tms="405381275.209" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.209" pid="150" msg="Source file /var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared/Checklist-A9A8BE65-F4F2-4BB5-AA92-8 75CA53F8D9A.mov is directly accessible."/>
             <log tms="405381275.214" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.214" pid="150" msg="Source file can be opened."/>
             <log tms="405381275.220" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.220" pid="150" msg="Source file can be read."/>
             <mrk tms="405381275.220" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.220" pid="150" kind="end" what="CServiceControllerServer::checkRequiredFiles"></mrk>
             <log tms="405381275.227" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.227" pid="150" msg="starting _processRequest for job target: file://localhost/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared/Checklist-Vimeo%20H D-F12CF6CD-0DCA-41EB-9BD6-557B63EB3E41.mov-7"/>
             <log tms="405381275.228" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.228" pid="150" msg="Writing transcode segment: file://localhost/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared/Checklist-Vimeo%20H D-F12CF6CD-0DCA-41EB-9BD6-557B63EB3E41.mov-7"/>
             <log tms="405381275.774" tmt="11/05/2013 13:54:35.774" pid="150" msg="QuickTime Transcode, rendering in YUV 8 bit 422"/>
             <log tms="405381346.861" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:46.861" pid="150" msg="Time for QuickTime transcode: 71.0861 seconds.  status = 0"/>
             <log tms="405381346.863" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:46.863" pid="150" msg="Done _processRequest for job target: file://localhost/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared/Checklist-Vimeo%20H D-F12CF6CD-0DCA-41EB-9BD6-557B63EB3E41.mov-7"/>
             <log tms="405381346.863" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:46.863" pid="150" msg="Unsubscribing to shared storage: URL = nfs://mc-27-thin-imac.local/private/var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared, local path = /var/spool/qmaster/87C75A89-72519530/shared"/>
             <mrk tms="405381350.222" tmt="11/05/2013 13:55:50.222" pid="150" kind="end" what="service-request" req-id="A9E024F4-2FCB-4355-B7AD-C5A69764BD46:1" msg="Processing service request end."></mrk>
          </logs>
       </service>
    </services>

    digital rebellion has a crash analyzer that's part of Pro Maintenance Tools
    http://www.digitalrebellion.com/promaintenance/
    There's a free trial, but it's worth every penny.

  • Render Farm Possible in Premiere?

    I multi-machine render in in AE all the time.  (For those who don't know, that's using several different computers to render the same project faster.)
    Can you do this in Premiere?  The closest solution I've come up with is rendering out and assiging frames to TIFF sequences on 3 computers like this:
    Computer 1:  Frames 1-2000
    Computer 2:  Frames 2001-4000
    Computer 3:  Frames 4001-6000
    But if computer 1 finishes first, it doesn't go on and help out its buddies, it just sits there like the last intern I had waiting to get fired and not looking around for anything to do, like move the 30 c-stands and sandbags to the grip truck instead of drinking pop and watching all of us work...
    Oh yeah, render farming.
    In AE you can click it to "skip existing files" (or somethign to that effect) so that if AE sees that frame 1001 is done already, it automatically skips to frame 1002, and on and on until every last frame is processed.
    Anything like this in Premiere that I've HOPEFULLY just been overlooking ?

    Here's the straight poop,
    I don't know if they'll ever get render farming up and running for anything outside of 3d effects, but the reason it hasn't been built yet is the same reason render farming took so long to develop in the first place: the workflow.
    Render farming doesn't output a single file.  Why?
    It uses the FRAMES and outputs a number of them from each machine in the farm, all to the same location (on any chosen machine).  However, these FRAMES are simply picture files.  That's right guys, just single picture files.  The same is true for video files really, that they are made up of nothing but picture files being rendered to the screen at super fast speeds, but they are all bundled together.  In compressed video, you lose some of the quality of the images in favor of saving speed and space, but with lossless codecs you are actually processing every frame (or every single picture).  This means that you'd have to add that processing step to the workflow for render farming.
    Steps originally:
    Comp A process these files as images from frame x to frame y and store in folder z
    Comp B process these files as images from frame v to frame w and store in folder z
    and so on for every machine
    Added steps for video rendering:
    comp A frames x to y scan and compress to file a
    comp B frames v to w scan and compress to file b
    and so on through each machine until all are finished
    finally: selected comp combine files a to (whatever)
    However, with this function you may get extra I-frames or B-frames, and you'll end up with jitter in the final product.  For this reason, the logic holds that instead of processing the video compression on multiple machines and combining files at the end, full video render farming should use a DATA PROCESSING BALANCE algorithm, allowing one machine to pass data between the processors of other machines while handling the file build on it's own.  Separating the file on the fly (as it is being processed) is a more useful tactic.  Start with I-frame A and I-Frame B and send the processing to Machine a, take I-Frame B and I-Frame C and send to machine B and so on and so forth.  This allows there to be I-frame overlap, and all the writing is still done with a single machine, while the processing is done across several.
    Of course, if you use the first set and change it so that the i, b and m frames over lap, then match them when putting the files together into one, you could, in theory, process it much the same as standard render farming.  The second method is only faster due to the fact that all the processing would happen on the fly, and the file would be all one file right away, removing the step of putting several files together, and it wouldn't matter which sections were finished first, how many machines there were, or how many frames overlapped, as the overlapping frames would simply overlap and all the others would fall into place.  The only bottleneck would be drive speed and fragmentation of the file, which could be a last step in finalization or an intermediate step along the way.  If you use a dedicated and allocated space for the storage, on the fly is the way to go; it also works if you simply run a defrag pass over the file when a section overlaps, thereby moving other sections forward or backward in storage so they line up properly; however, this could just as easily work at the end of the whole process.
    From a logical standpoint, it works.  From a programming standpoint, it's a lot of work, and it's hard on a system.  Personally, farming out a few effects and then wrapping them in a lossless file for use while editing is easy enough.  And the quality of the preview is amazing.  Rendering out to a single full video file is saved for last or for the end of the day when go home to my family; that way I don't have to ***** about how slow everything was.  I can just relax and let the PMS'ing wife yell about how nothing is going right, let the kids yell "he did this" and "she did that", and enjoy the fact that my computers are more obedient.  They do what I say without slamming doors and pouting.

  • FCP 2 / Maya Render Farm

    I'm setting up a render farm for one of the labs I manage at my University. I currently have 10 2GHz G5's on a gig switch behind an 8-core MacPro as the controller. I want to know if its possible to set up the 250GB drives that is in those 10 machines as a single share drive mounted to the controller? If not by native software, what about 3rd party software?
    Is this there anything I should know about the newest version of Maya with Tiger and would it need to be installed into each of the nodes if they are in a dedicated render farm?

    I dont know anything off the top of my head to answer your first paragraph. You should use a file server and mount the volume on all the nodes, which is easy.
    And yeah, every node needs to have Maya installed. The good thing is they dont need to be licensed to do command line rendering, unless you use mental ray renderer.

  • 10 Xserve render farm only uses 1 out of 10 Xserves

    We have a 10 Xserve render farm and when we submit a Maya job with Qmaster, it seems that only the 7th renderfarm is handling the job, while the others do nothing. Any idea why this is happening?

    What is happening is that there's no or bad management over there. That's for sure.

  • Is a windows network render farm/slave compatible with an iMac?

    I have an iMac user in my office who would like to set-up a render farm or slave for his iMac. Since Mac products are expensive I am hoping we can build a windows machine to accomplish this. We currently use Adobe CC 2014, so we would need the render farm/slave to work with After Effects and Premier Pro.
    Looking for good affordable solutions that won't be a cross platform nightmare to set-up and configure. Any advise would be much appreciated. Thanks.

    Hi, Indeed. I am selecting the Bootcamp partition, and If I do Format, It informs me that all we be deleted, ok fair enough. then I can click the NEXT button, but I got then a msg stating :
    Setup was u nable to create a new system partion or locate an existing system partition. See the Setup Log Files for more informations.
    I have not more option here, I can delete, then create a new one with same size then format again, but same message at the end. this is my issue.
    A guy done a Youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD7dbSl9-b8
    I am all ok up to 5min 50 on the video. Then My issue is what he has....
    However, when he format the partition he does not have my error msg stating Setup was unable to create. etc...
    This is my issue.

  • Hardware recommendations for render farm?

    Hello,
    what would you recommend for a small render farm for mixed AE projects (mostly HD content, short projects with only a few seconds and layers and bigger ones with multiple HD layers and up to 15min or longer.)
    is it better to have more cores (AMD opteron servers with 48 cores for example) or better more performance per core but less cores (Intel Xeon servers)?
    And how much memory would be optimal?
    What can you recommend for network connection to the shared storaged, how fast shall this be?

    I like Harm's analogy better then mine. One prize cow vs. 20 regular cows. The imagery is very clear. In a production environment, where volume counts, more is better then a single top notch one. A single cow can only produce so much mik per day, no matter how extraordinary it is.  But 20 can theoretically produce 20 times more (practically, maybe  17 to 18). Quantity, not quality. I'm not saying that you should get crappy hardware. Just good hardware, not high performance ones.
    As you know, it's not because you buy a computer that costs twice as much, that you'll get twice the processing power. First of all, forget dual CPU computers for a render farm, it's not worth it. Get a regular quad core. As you compare prices vs. performance (do a chart), get the CPU that gives you the best bang for the buch (just before the price curve goes up).
    I personally think 32GB is overkill in a render farm environment. 16GB is way more then enough. Remember that you're not doing a RAM preview farm (if such a thing exists), but rather, fractioning the render process to various computers. While 16GB is good, 2GB isn't. But 8GB can be an nice compromise. Remember, you're trying to drive the cost down of a computer, so you can buy many computers. But RAM is cheap, so, best bang for the buck, 16GB can be possible. Then again, it depends on other overall factors to keep the price for the computer down.
    Network speed. Yes you could get 10GB NICs and a 10GB switch. But that can drive the price up substantially. If you can get a good price on them, great. If not, stick to 1GB. Get a motherboard that has 2x 1GB NICs on board, so you can aggregate the network connections together to get 2GB. You could eventually add a quad 1GB PCIe card down the road. The computer that has the project assets should have an aggregated quad (or more) NIC inside. You want to be able to push the media as fast as possible to the render farm.
    Other things to consider... or rather, not consider. Graphic card is a non issue on a server farm. AE is all about CPU. Some mobos come with on-board graphics. Usually, it's cheaper, and consumes less power. You also want to drive the energy costs down when you multiply by X number of computers. Just get a KVM solution that will be able handle X computers. You don't need a RAID on render farm computers. A regular hard drive will do. I'd even go with a green drive that consumes less power.
    And depending on how many computers you have, to reduce the footprint, you might want to get low profile rackmount casings and put them in a rack.  Plus think of putting it in it's own room, because it'll be very noisy!

  • Mac OS X Render Farm

    I need to setup a render farm that supports the following applications:
    Adobe After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Shake, Houdini, Modo, Maya, Cinema4D and Compressor.
    What would I need?
    Does Xgrid support these apps or is the Sun Grid Engine a better bet?
    Sun Engine Grid
    http://gridengine.sunsource.net/
    XSan is a must unless ZFS is a better option not too sure if it would be compatible though. What RAID arrays would work best? Can I use the Sun StorageTek 6140 array with the XServe being that XRaid is no defunct (Promise RAID looks iffy, not to mention ugly).
    How would I manage the Queues (Can I run multiple Queue Applications to support different apps i.e. Apple Qmaster and Sun Grid Engine)?
    RUSH http://www.seriss.com/rush/
    Dr. Queue http://drqueue.org/cwebsite/
    Qube http://www.pipelinefx.com/
    Anyone with experience.
    Thanks,
    Juan

    Well I mentioned ZFS mainly because the Sun StorageTek Array supports ZFS and XSAN looks somewhat similar to ZFS in that the storage is pooled. I imagine Apple is planning on replacing XSAN with ZFS in the not too distant future, if so Sun Storage looks great!
    Regarding Qmaster, I'm going to investigate further. Its supposed to work according to Apple's advertising:
    Clusters for encoding and rendering
    Q Master
    Qmaster uses the processing capacity of your network computers for a wide range of tasks, including encoding and rendering for motion graphics produced by applications *such as Apple Shake, Adobe After Effects, and Autodesk Maya.* Configure Qmaster clusters to run jobs for encoding, rendering, or both, and change the configuration in a few simple steps. You can output files faster than ever by configuring clusters to take advantage of multiple processors, or “services,” as well as multiple computers. For even faster throughput, configure Qmaster to manage individual processors in each computer, turning any Mac Pro into a virtual render farm. To further optimize your workflow, create clusters to be used for specific jobs, users, or applications.
    http://appleclub.com.hk/finalcutstudio/compressor/encoding.html
    Modo seems to have network rendering built in as well. Still waiting for the Mac version of Houdini to test it out. I've also have been playing with Real Flow.
    I'll keep updating the post if I find anything.
    Thanks,
    Juan

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