[numerobis]

i have considered using linux for the farm more than one time... but i don't know much about linux configs and don't had the time - so i ended with winxp.

It would be nice to discuss all things that are necessary to implement a linux farm into a windows network and maybe customize an optimized render farm linux that everyone could use with maxwell...

[itsallgoode9]

I started getting all of the "extras" in the mail today (fans, fan grills, hdd mounts etc)and will have everything before the weekend. This weeken I'll be picking up the cabinets from ikea and once i take the measurmwnts of the drawer interiors I'll make a final decision on the mobo form factor. Hopefully next week I'll order the first system to test everything out. Keep you guys updated

[polynurb]

Hi there,

really interestig project!

let me throw in a few thoughts..

- get a micro atx board instead miniItx.

you'll get 4 ram slots for up to 32GB. much better upgrade-ability and more options in bios.
they commonly have stronger power circuits too.
asus pro version is a good choice, also because these things will be running 24/7, you should choose though components.

alternatively you could get the "P" version of the chipset and some 20$ graphics card.. makes overclocking easier/more stable, which is still possible with the 2600 (non k) if you do it via Base Clock.

- consider a cisco/linksys switch. these are great in performance and don't cost more than the one you posted.
e.g. SG200-18 is around 150€ here in europe.

- intel stock coolers are not very good, and get quickly blocked by dust.
if you pack all these in one helmer.. i'd have a second thought about watercooling. it will be very quiet and efficient, and you still just need one powerful pump (like laing d5) and 2 radiators per cabinet.

i am running 3 nodes in a serial watercooling system for almost 4 years now, an the temp difference between no1. and 3 is minimal (~ 4°c)
so i'd say, considering a high flow rate, you can hook 6 in a row if you place one radi after node 3 and 6 respectively.


cheers,

daniel

[itsallgoode9]

I've held off for this project for a bit until I read some benchmark info on the new sandybridge e. There have been some pre release chip benchmarks that came out this week and I was left a bit underwhelmed by those, so I decided to go ahead with my original plan of the 2600 series.

Although I have changed the parts I originally posted after some suggestions and some more research. I ordered one set of computer parts this morning to do initial testing before I buy the whole shebang and it should be here in the morning. I don't think i'll get around to setting it up and testing until this weekend but I'll update the pricing and parts list and give feedback once I get to testing the setup. To give a preview I decided to go with overclocking on the 2600k, even though i was originally against overclocking for a setup this big.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll hopefully update by Monday morning.

[itsallgoode9]

well, I got the system up and running, but I am an absolute noob when it comes to Umbuntu and I cannot seem to get maxwell working
gotta say it's a bit frustrating to to not be able to do something as simple as get a program installed and running.

[itsallgoode9]

so at the moment, this whole linux thing is a complete roadblock for me. Has anybody had any issues getting maxwell installed on linux? I keep getting an error that says the Maxwell2_Root environment variable is missing. MXED will open up (although with no viewport) but everything else gives me that same error. Think anybody can help me with what i'm doing wrong?

[Aji Enrico]

Hey

Put this file into your maxwell folder and run it.

Basically, it exports maxwell root path every session, here's the content of the script

Code: Select all

export MAXWELL2_ROOT=pwd
./maxwell

Let me know if this works.

If it doesn't run by clicking on it, open terminal and go to your maxwell directory and type

Code: Select all

sudo chmod +x maxwell_startup.sh

to make it executable.

Edit: made a tar.gz file to replace the zip

[itsallgoode9]

holy hell, you area god. thank you!! So in the end what was I doing incorrectly? was i not putting the variable in the correct file or something? Installing maxwell is my first time ever using linux, so I'm pretty clueless about this stuff.

one question I have....I can only run maxwell if I'm in root. Do you know what is causing that to happen? Is that standard in linux?

[Aji Enrico]

Glad to help you sir.
Root? Not sure how Maxwell render or Maxwell network will behave if not being root, you can always try

Little background.
The issue is, Maxwell needs to have the environment value "maxwell2_root" set to install path.
In order to get the Linux OS to do so you have basically 2 options, simplified.

1 Temporary Session) Create a shell/bash script file (like windows .bat files) and let it "export" the environment variable for Maxwell and after that setup, simply let the same script run Maxwell and Maxwell is then happy.
The downside is that the environment variable is not set in stone in the OS, that is it's only temporary and only for the terminal you invoked with the script. You will need to export every time you want to run Maxwell. This is called session based, i think.

2 Permanently on System) Linux has some Autoexec.bat like startup scripts that the OS runs on Machine start and also at user login. So you can pick some of these Machine start startup scripts or the user login scripts and edit them to put the environment variable in.
This way you will be able to run Maxwell directly without additional scripts.

Both procedures are valid, it's a matter of taste I guess

So to answer your question, you probably missed to export the environment variable so that Maxwell can see it.

Happy reading
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Envir ... _variables

[itsallgoode9]

Thanks for the explanation! In the end I've decided I'm just going to buy windows licenses for the farm. Kinda sucks spending the money on that, but for me it'll make it much easier to handle for setup or when i inevitably need to troubleshoot and issue.

[itsallgoode9]

The first computer has finally been setup and put to use. it's a 2600k overclocked to 4.2 currently, which makes it faster than my 980x on my main machine...for 1/3 the price! Due to some space issues in the cabinet drawers I was looking at, I decided just to spend money on cases for the computers. I'm a bit bummed about not getting to do a custom setup, but it'll be better in the end.

I'm using coop render with the new computer for a project right now to test it out...I have about 18 images I need to render out. Previously, with only the 980x, each one would take 45 minutes and get to SL 12. With the new node added in, it takes 23 min and gets to SL 12.4. Much better results than I had anticipated!

right now I'm running into issues with the files not automatically merging so I have a bit of research to find out what's going on with that.