Distributed Processing Setup Guide

This setup is for an environment that uses desktop computers. It is called “part-time”
processing because each computer acts as someone’s workstation, but at the same time
is also part of the distributed processing cluster. The bulk of the processing jobs can be
submitted with Compressor or Apple Qmaster at the end of the day, so that the computers
are busy processing a large queue of distributed processing batches after everyone has
gone home. (See Scheduling Service Availability in the Work Schedule Dialog for
information on scheduling service node availability.)
Network
FireWire
drive
FireWire
drive
FireWire
drive
FireWire
drive
FireWire
drive
Each computer acts as both
a client that submits jobs for processing and
a service node that performs the processing.
All source and output files are stored on the FireWire drives.
In the sample setup shown above, five computers act as both the clients (user workstations
from which users submit jobs for distributed processing) and cluster computers (which
do the processing). Each computer has an additional volume, such as a FireWire drive,
that is used for media before and after it is rendered, and for the associated files.
For more information on how to configure this desktop distributed processing
environment, see Configuring Access for Part-Time Distributed Processing.
Configuring Access for Part-Time Distributed Processing
Follow the instructions below to set up a “part-time” distributed processing system.
Before you get started, keep these essentials in mind:
• The cluster computers (cluster controller and service nodes) and the client computers
(user workstations) need to be on the same local network (subnet).
27Chapter 3 Preparing a Network for Distributed Processing