#WFW network rendering
5 messages in this thread
I would like to know if it is possible to network render with Windows for
Workgroups if you add the DOS extension. I think I remember reading a message
in this forum some time ago saying that you needed to run one instance of 3D
Studio (I don't remember if it was the main or the slave instance) in a DOS
shell under Windows for it to work.
I would appreciate feedback from anyone using WFW and the DOS extension
successfully.
Thanks
Don Hayward
Don,
It is indeed possible to use WFW for network rendering. We don't recommend
however, that you run your network slave machines from inside a DOS shell while
the Windows GUI is running. That would just be a memory manager nightmare.
As long as you are running the slaves in DOS, and using the network drivers in
DOS, it is no different from setting up any peer-to-peer netwrok.
You might want to download 3DSNET.TXT from the 3DS library for more
information.
-Brian
I have been told that you need to have at least one computer running windows on
the network to do network rendering with WFW. I know of one person who puts
just the control files on a slow WFW server but sends all of the rendered files
to one of the 3D Studio stations. The server doesn't even have 3D Studio
installed on it. I only have 2 computers and I would like to put both to work
on a rendering job without needing one running windows. I am currently doing
this with Lantastic but it takes a lot of system resources and crashes more
than I would like. I'm hoping that I can use just the DOS functionality of WFW
on each of the computers either as is or with the DOS add on for WFW that I
have seen for sale.
Any specifics on how to this would be appreciated. 3DSNET.TXT didn't help much.
Thanks
Don Hayward
Hello,
I was working also with a pure peer-to-peer network. I had much problems. In
fact MS-DOS isn't well suited for multitasking needed for proper network
operation ( i mean as server). Currently I installed WINDOWS nt3.5 on my
slowest machine (486/66 mhz 16mb ram) as server and 'Microsoft Workgroup add-on
for MS-DOS' on my two 3ds slaves and everything works fine. One of both slave
acts as the initiating 3ds master ( with hardware lock) before rendering.
Performance for network operation is also much better than with pure peer-to-
peer . The problems in these system are when 2 or more clients try to write on
the (in this case) MS-DOS server at the same moment.
[AIn my installation I have also a Pioneer DRM-604X CD-ROM changer and the
access to it is much better now since connected to my NT server.
Bye,
Emmanuel De Smet / Creative Computing
Don,
If you are using the WFW network drivers, you are correct, at least on of your
computers needs to be running Windows. However if you are talking about the WFW
network package for DOS, I believe both machines can be in the DOS environment.
However, if you haven't bought the networking software yet, you might also want
to explore other peer- to peer options like Lantastic or Netware light. That
way you don't have to deal with these issues at all, and there are plenty of
people here on this forum using those networks that can help you out.
-Brian