Apple Compressor (4.0) - Manual (Page 220)

Chapter 8 Use Apple Qmaster to set up a distributed processing system 220
Example: A target distributed processing network using a local area network (LAN)
For more powerful rendering, this network includes multiple client computers on a LAN that
are connected to a cluster using a high-speed switch. A rack of servers plus a shared storage
device, acting as the cluster, create an extremely strong rendering engine. In this example, each
service node has a local copy of the relevant client application software so that it can process the
rendering jobs.
Client
Client
Client
Client
Example of a network setup for distributed rendering
High-speed switch
Rack of servers containing
cluster controller and
service nodes, plus
rack-mounted shared
storage device
LAN
Additional components of a distributed processing network
A distributed processing network can consist of as few as one or two computers, whereas a high-
volume network may include many computers, an Xserve system and Xserve cluster nodes in a
rack, and high-speed networking infrastructures. You can scale up a distributed processing system
as your workload demands by adding features and devices to the network that supports it.
There are many ways to expand the capacity of a distributed processing network, including by
using any of the following components:
•
High-speed switch and cables: A 100Base-T or Gigabit Ethernet switch and compatible cables
can be used to allow your data to move over the LAN at maximum speed.
•
Multiple clients: Multiple client computers can use the services of the same cluster. Additionally,
you can have multiple client applications on the same client computer, with each client
application using the same cluster.
•
Multiple clusters: Depending on how extensive your network is and how many clients it
needs to serve, you may want to divide up available computers and create more than one
cluster to serve various clients. (Users select the cluster they want to send a batch to when
they submit the batch.)