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free linux 64 ?

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 12:42 pm
by deadalvs
hi !

is there a free and simple to install linux 64 bit distribution available ? which one ?
do the different distos influence render speed ?

i am thinking about future renderslaves running on linux.

:?:

Re: free linux 64 ?

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 9:06 pm
by Rickyx
deadalvs wrote:hi !

is there a free and simple to install linux 64 bit distribution available ? which one ?
do the different distos influence render speed ?

i am thinking about future renderslaves running on linux.
:?:
I'm Ubuntist so I suggest you Ubuntu, for 32 and 64bit Intel processors.
Download the brand new release "8.04 LongTermSupport" -codename "Hardy Heron"- Desktop or Server version from:
http://www.ubuntu.com/ ---> http://releases.ubuntu.com/8.04/
Quickest way to download is torrent.
Very easy to install.

I think performances on different distros depends a lot from the kernel (compiled or not) and from the number of active services.

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 11:00 pm
by deadalvs
thanks for this info ! downloading ...

i checked www.benchwell.com ..

there are nearly no linuxes around.

have you tried a direct comparison between windows and ubuntu on one machine... ? was there a significant time difference ?

how stable is ubuntu compared to win xp64 ?

Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 11:33 am
by Rickyx
Ciao deadalvs,

unfortunatly I do not have any Win64 -Wx nor Vista- so I can't comparate between the two.
And obviousy I see positive differences between 32 and 64 bit...

Ubuntu has not significant stability issues that can diminish user experience, is ultrasecure while browsing the web and solid as server...

:wink:
Ricky

Ps: BUT if your primary target is stability than choose Debian ( http://www.debian.org/ ): even if Ubuntu is based on Debian, it has "non ultrasecure packages" coming with.

Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 4:03 pm
by pwrdesign
Im running 15 Ubuntu nodes atm, works great!

http://www.maxwellrender.com/forum/view ... hp?t=27121

Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 7:33 pm
by deadalvs
ah that sounds great... especially for a free OS !!

i will think about this ... :)

thanks !

Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 9:28 pm
by codygo
I run gentoo compiled for opteron processors and 64 bits and performance is slightly lower than in xp pro 64. Still cool though, I would be more comfortable using ssh to transfer files to my linux computer at home and using command line to render them than alternatives in windows.

Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 11:43 pm
by deadalvs
i have an other question.

renderfarming is and endless fight with cashflow ... :)

i'm still thinking of some sort of low-cost cluster. so for each slave, even the cd/dvd rom is not a must since the slaves are there just for rendering purposes.
-->
is there an easy way on linux to install the complete OS on each slave from a network directory with the full installer (like that ubuntu.iso) ? and for other software like maxwell, is it also possible to admin that just over tcp/ip with multiple slaves at once ?

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 8:20 am
by pwrdesign
Just make a Clone/ghost!

I've got a clone set up on a server here at work, when I have a new render-machine/or need to reinstall one, I just boot on the disk, point to the server and the server is restored. It takes about 10 minutes, all I have to do when its done is changing the IP number back to the one it used to have. (we are using static IP's here)

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 8:26 am
by deadalvs
sweet ...

i bet that saves a looot of time !


:!:

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 9:19 am
by Rickyx
I agree, I often use http://www.partimage.org/

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 9:41 am
by deadalvs
how do you guys deal with different hardware that need different drivers and a single OS images can't handle all slaves ?

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 9:46 am
by pwrdesign
Yes it does!

Im using clonezilla

I've got two different hardware setups in my farm, and I have to make two clones. It takes about 10 min to do a clone though so its not alot of work.