#min network stations
7 messages in this thread
Question about the new network rendering features in 3DS r3:
What is the minimum needed to set up a slave station? Could you have, in
effect, a few "rack mounted" 486s, without monitors, without keyboards, etc? I
assume you would need at least the following:
– Yer basic motherboard in a box
– Lot's of RAM
– A hard drive for swapping and storing rendered images
Anything else? I guess I'm just looking at the cheapest way to set up a
dedicated rendering farm and I'd appreciate any advice from those with more
network experience than me. ( Not hard, I don't have any <g>)
Bruce Meikle
If you get a chance, check out "FREE RENDERING" in the What's new/want ads
section of this forum.
–John WIlson
Bruce,
your basic configuration sounds about right. You could also get away with
judicious use of switch boxes for mouse, keyboard, and monitor to share these
items between several systems. I use a switchbox to share a monitor between 2
systems. It is nice to be able to actually use the system for other things
besides net-rendering though. I like to have one workstation in a paint package
sometimes while I'm in 3ds on another, and both systems communicate through the
(partially) dedicated server.
You should compare prices between Pentium systems and 486/66 systems, though,
because it might be cheaper to buy Pentiums to avoid having to buy RAM,
hardrives and other peripherals for each system. For example, a Pentium is
about twice the speed of a 486/66 in rendering, but might be a lot less money
than 2 486/66's when you figure in all the extras you need to buy.
Thanks for your reply! Now comes the tough part: pricing and raising the $ <g>
Bruce Meikle
Bruce,
you're welcome and good luck with raising the funds.
A rack mounted system would be ideal, but it is often more expensive to buy
racks and rack mount enclosures than to just buy a cheap, mass produced medum
or full tower. I called a large supplier of industrial hardware a while ago
and they quoted me $350 per enclosure, and $700 for the rack. These are
standard items that I have seen in use on several occasions. Compare that with
$50-$150 for your basic Taiwanese tower, and I think you'll see what I mean.
Rack mounts are of MUCH (!!!) higher quality than the average towers you get
with clones, though.
You need a keyboard input and monitor output for each machine, otherwise how
would you start it and check on it? I use a switchbox with keyboard and
monitor in/outs so I can see everything on one monitor, and control it with one
keyboard.
Your basic ideas are right on, though. You can get ehternet cards that will
allow you to boot without a hard drive, but I can't imagine a stable small
network (Lantastic, Netware lite) to work well like that.
John Tissavary (La Luna cie)
Thanks for your reply! I didn't have my heart set on actual racks, just the
idea of stripped down systems as slaves. Your comments (and Martin Foster's as
well) about switch boxes were quite helpful. And now, to raise the dough<g>.
Bruce Meikle