SquidNet

1. SquidNet Network Render Manager The Basics

2. SquidNet Features • Cross platform (WINDOWS, Linux, OS X) • Graphical User interface (GUI) • Command line interface • Software Development Kit (API) • Application Path Translations • Patch translation management • Mixed environment rendering • more… • Network Management • Automatic node detection • Client-Master-Slave configuration • Node pool management • Active/Inactive node assignments • No configuration files • Usage statistics(timeline, CPU, memory, etc…) • more… • Job Management • Application-specific job request templates • Priority queue • Job control(suspend, cancel, re-queue, etc…) • Job status monitoring • Email/SMS notifications • SSH/SFTP/FTP Image Transfer • Tile rendering • Efficient load balancing • Multiple queuing algorithms • more… • Power Management • Automatic render farm shutdown • Wake-On-LAN (WOL) management • Remote management (shutdown, reboot, etc..) • more…

3. Network layout WORKSTATION01 LAN:192.168.0.50/24 MASTER LAN:192.168.0.75/24 WORKSTATION02 LAN:192.168.0.51/24 WORKSTATION03 LAN:192.168.0.52/24 WORKSTATION04 LAN:192.168.0.53/24 Network Switch Modem WAN:76.23.14.23 LAN:192.168.0.1/24 Internet Render Nodes Network Storage 192.168.0.108/24 RENDERNODE07 192.168.0.106/24 RENDERNODE08 192.168.0.107/24 RENDERNODE01 192.168.0.100/24 RENDERNODE02 192.168.0.101/24 RENDERNODE03 192.168.0.102/24 RENDERNODE04 192.168.0.103/24 RENDERNODE05 192.168.0.104/24 RENDERNODE06 192.168.0.105/24

4. How does a render farm work? SquidNet Master SquidNet Client Workstations Client workstations send render requests to Master controller Workstations store ALL scene content on NAS. They also retrieve render results from NAS Master controller manages slave rendering operations (start, stop, etc…) Slaves return render results to Master controller. NAS Storage Slaves access scene content on NAS and store rendered images on NAS SquidNet Slaves

5. Render Farm Network Paths M:\myscene.mb or \\NAS-SERVER\maya-projects\myscene.mb Network folder: A directory on a computer or NAS that is available to all computers on the network. UNC Path: A reference to a folder that’s accessible on the local network. For example, \\NAS-SERVER\maya-projects is a UNC path. Mapped Drive: A WINDOWS-only shortcut to a network folder. For example, local mapped drive M:\ can point to UNC path \\NAS-SERVER\maya-projects. In this case, local drive M:\ and UNC path \\NAS-SERVER\maya-projects both point to the same content. /Volume/Volume_1/maya-projects/myscene.mb NAS box: NAS-SERVER Exported folder: /Volume_1/maya-projects All paths point to the same physical folder on NAS /mnt/maya-projects/myscene.mb NAS Storage Additional information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNC_path#Uniform_Naming_Convention

6. Before installing SquidNet Make sure all network folders are created. Make sure all network folders (SAMBA, NAS, etc…) are accessible (read, write permissions) from all render farm nodes. For WINDOWS machines: All SquidNet installation accounts MUST have ADMINISTRATOR privileges. All nodes MUST have the same ADMIN account name AND same password on each node. WARNING: WINDOWS (non Server versions) has a connection limit to network folders. If your farm has more than 5 nodes, it’s recommended that you use a NAS for content storage. Check with your IT professional on configuration settings. Verify Account permissions Read/Write Access Read/Write Access Read/Write Access NAS Storage

7. Installing Software Use root account for installation WINDOWS: Must be installed when logged in under an ADMIN account. During installation, enter login information for any ADMIN account. This ADMIN account must exist on all WINDOWS nodes and have the same password. It must also exist on NAS server. SquidNet Server runs as background service. LINUX and OS X: Install from shell under root account. Standard tarball installation.Untar and run squidnet-install.sh script. Enter local node computer name and name/password for ADMIN account Use DMG installer for installation

8. Behind the scenes… On each render farm computer, SquidNet runs silently as a background process waiting for commands from the local user interface, SDK API, command line interface or from another node on the farm. On WINDOWS, background processes are called services. On OSX and Linux they’re called daemons. Generally, background processes are called “services” on any platform. On the MASTER node, the local UI communicates directly with the local SquidNet service. On client nodes, the local UI connections with the local SquidNet service AND with the MASTER service. The local UI on slave nodes only connect with the local service. It is never necessary to log in to the local node to get the SquidNet service running. The local service gets started when the computer starts up. • SquidNet Background Service • Graphical User Interface • Remote SquidNet Server • Command Line Interface • SDK API Interface

9. Setting configuration path Multiple Workstations By default, user configuration settings (job profiles, application paths, etc…) are stored in the <install-path>\settings folder. If SquidNet is uninstalled and reinstalled all user configuration settings will be lost. Therefore, its recommended that the default folder location be changed in the preferences window. In a render farm where a single workstation will be used to submit jobs, the configuration path can be set to any local hard drive path (example: C:\Squidnet-config). Make sure to backup often. In multi-workstation environments, set the configuration path to a folder on a NAS box that all workstations have access to. This prevents from having to duplicate the same settings on each workstation. The configuration settings folder is only used by submitting workstations. MASTER and SLAVE nodes do not need to have the configuration path set in their local user interface. UNC Path Configuration Path UNC Path Single Workstation Configuration Path NAS Storage Local Drive

10. Configuring render farm nodes When configuring a CMS setup, determine which node will be the MASTER first. Then setup the clients and slaves accordingly. SquidNet Clients 4 different node types: PEER: The default node type when SquidNet is installed. CLIENT: Defines and submits job requests to farm. Can process jobs at low priority, when user is logged out or never. MASTER: Manages render farm network. Can be configured to process jobs. Can also assign specific master-like permissions to client nodes. SLAVE: Processes job requests only. SquidNet Master Defaults to PEER SquidNet Slaves To change configuration, convert all CMS nodes to PEERS starting with slaves and clients. Un-configure the MASTER node last.

11. Network Pools NETWORK POOL Defined pools NIGHTLY POOL STAFF POOL Render Farm Pool: A set of nodes on a render farm allocated to perform a specific task or perform specific operations. SquidNet has a default pool called “NETWORK” that all nodes are a member of. By default, all jobs render to the “NETWORK” pool. Typical scenario: Based on node performance, segment render farm nodes so that higher priority jobs always get processed on faster machines. HIGH PERFORMANCE POOL LOW PERFORMANCE POOL RENDERNODE10 belongs to these pools Pool assignments Available nodes

12. Setting up application paths RENDERNODE01 LightWave Installation path C:\Program Files\...\lwsn.exe Each profile can have multiple entries but only one per node. RENDERNODE02 In order to process job requests, SquidNet needs to know where applications are installed on each node. Different versions of the same application can be installed on each node. Use the Application Path Manager to define “profiles” that contain absolute paths to each application on each render node for a given rendering application. Create one profile for each application. Register installation paths with Application Path Manager Modo Installation path C:\Program Files\...\modo_cl.exe RENDERNODE03 3DSMAX Installation path C:\Program Files\...\3dsmaxcmd.exe RENDERNODE04 Maya Installation path C:\Program Files\...\render.exe

13. Setting up translation paths Translation paths allow SquidNet to submit the same job to different platform types (WINDOWS, Linux and OS X). Not needed if the same operating system platform is being used. Each entry “maps” the same physical network share location to one translation path. Embed $XPATH() macro in template when substitution is required. Same physical folder is mapped to a single translation path /Volumes/Volume_1/SquidNet \\raid-server00\volume_1\SquidNet /mnt/raid/SquidNet

14. Setting up scene objects (maps, textures, etc…) GOOD!! Any object (maps, textures, etc…) embedded in scene file MUST NOT be located on a local hard drive (C:\, D:\, etc…). They MUST be physically located on a network share drive (\\NAS-SERVER\maya-projects\maps…\...). If stored locally, render jobs will render just fine on the node where the scene objects exist but WILL NOT render on remote nodes because they’re not present on their local drives. Most applications will produce an error for any job that has inaccessible scene objects. NAS Storage (local reference) C:\maya-projects\maps….\.... (network path) \\NAS_SERVER\maya-projects\maps….\.... (local reference) D:\objects\textures\….\.... (network path) \\NAS_SERVER\objects\textures\….\.... BAD!! Local Drive Local Drive

15. Project management Project Folder SquidNet uses a project-based framework to track job profiles. All submitted jobs are placed in specific project folders. At install time, a default project folder is created (SQUIDNET DEFAULT) Use Project Manager to create new folders. Quick launch buttons Project Manager

16. Job templates SquidNet job templates contain processing instructions for supported rendering and compositing applications. Each template contains application specific and common fields that define how the job is to be processed. When submitted, job template can be saved in to a job profile. Job profiles can be later resubmitted with the same or altered processing parameters. Group job profiles according to project. Use project manager to define new project. Common fields Application specific fields

17. What is a job queue? JOB QUEUE In render farms, a job queue is where rendering requests get stored for processing. Typically, jobs are processed in first-come-first-served order (FIFO). With SquidNet, jobs are processed according to a user defined priority level (0 thru 24: 0 being highest). Clients nodes submit jobs to the queue. The Master node manages the queue. Slave get assigned jobs from the queue by the Master node. IN SquidNet Job Queue Job n Job n+1 Job n+2 Job n+3 • Jobs at higher priority are always processed first. Priority 0 (zero) is highest priority. 24 is the lowest. • Jobs with same priorities are processed on first-come-first-serve basis. Job n+4 OUT

18. Jobs and job slices Frames By default, SquidNet assigns one frame to each available processing node. The rendering application on each render node must load the scene file before any rendering operation can begin. For small-footprint scene files this is straightforward. However, for large-footprint scenes (200MB or larger) this can be extremely inefficient because of the time involved to load each scene file before processing. In some cases, loading the scene file can take considerably more time then rendering the actual frame. For multi-frame render jobs, SquidNet supports the concept of job slices. Job slices allow you to determine how many frames will be rendered each time an application loads a scene file. Setting the job slice count to a value that evenly distributes the farm load maximizes render times considerably. For example in an extreme case: Processing a 500MB scene file on a 10-node farm using a slice count of 10 (each render node loads scene once and processes 10 complete frames) is by far more efficient than using a slice count of 1 (the default) where each scene file is loaded 10 times per node (once per frame). Each render node will load scene once and render 10 frames at a time Example: 30 Frame Scene 10 frames per slice Frames Frames JOB QUEUE JOB SLICE QUEUE

19. Processing pipeline Prepare scene Submit job Monitor job queue Monitor network Verify output SquidNet’s processing pipeline is as follows: Verify the scene is properly formatted (object files paths, etc…) Setup SquidNet application job template with processing parameters. Submit job to render farm Monitor job queue for status. Monitor network queue for resource usage. Verify output content. flow flow flow flow Pipeline workflow Pipeline workflow Pipeline workflow Pipeline workflow

20. Monitoring jobs JOB SLICE QUEUE JOB QUEUE Monitor queued jobs in the network job queue. The job queue shows the following: Status of job (pending, processing, complete, etc…) Position on the queue Percentage complete Job log showing detailed activity and more… Monitor job slices using the job slice view: The job slice view shows the following: The status of each job slice (pending, processing, complete, etc…) Render currently processing job slice. Completion status Job slice log showing detailed activity and more JOBSLICE LOG JOB LOG

21. Monitoring network nodes Network View Use the network view to monitor all active nodes. Use the network work queue view to: See which jobs each node is processing. Current status of job slices. Number of node resources allocated. Network View NODE LOG