Monitoring Render Nodes
 
 
 

Monitoring allows you to view the overall health of each render node on the Backburner network. Hardware details presented for each render node include the total RAM installed, and remaining disk space. Node status—available, unavailable, idle, busy, etc.—is also displayed, as well as details on any job the node is currently processing. Render nodes that have previously connected with the Backburner Manager, but are no longer seen by it, are easily identified, and can be removed, if desired.

To view render node status:

  1. Start the Backburner Monitor and connect to a Backburner Manager. See Backburner Windows Monitor.

    The Server List area occupies the lower panes in the monitor. This area shows nodes organized in a hierarchical tree view and as a list.

    (a) Tree View (b) List View 

    The tree view presents a hierarchical list of all node groups, as well as the plug-ins available for the system. You can use this area to see which render nodes are available to render jobs, as well as manage groups of nodes.

    The list of render nodes shows all nodes assigned to the group selected in the tree view. If no group is selected, all render nodes on the system appear in this area. By default, this area shows the following information for each node:

    • The name and current status of the node.
    • The job the node is currently processing.
    • The most recent message sent by the node to the Backburner Manager.

    The icon beside each server provides a visual indication of its state.

    Icon Color State
    Green OK
    Yellow Idle
    Grey Absent
    Red Error
  2. Customize the information shown in the list of render nodes, as desired. See Customizing the Render Node List.
  3. To locate a render node, do any of the following:
    • Scroll through the entries using the scroll bars.
    • Reorder the list in ascending or descending order by clicking a column heading.
    • Filter the list by first clicking the square on the right side of each column in the Job list. Enter filtering criteria in the dialog that appears.
  4. Right-click a render node and choose Properties (or press Ctrl+N).

    The Server Properties dialog appears, showing hardware and software information for the node.

    Item Description
    General  
    Server Server host name.
    User User account name under which the Backburner Server was launched.
    Current Job The current job as assigned by the Backburner Manager.
    Status Current server activity.
    Handle Server ID, used internally and in log files.
    Platform Operating system details.
    Memory Installed RAM.
    CPUs The total number of CPUs installed on the system.
    IP address The server's IP address. This is used by the Backburner Manager to communicate with the server.
    Perf. Index A value in the range [0–1] indicating the performance level of the render node, relative to the other servers on the same job. A score of 1 indicates this is the best-performing server.
    Available Disk Space Disk space available for rendering.
    Plugin Summary  
    burn, mio, Command Line Tool, Wire, etc. A list of adapters installed on the render node, for example:
    • burn: The Burn renderer.
    • mio: The Media I/O adapter used by WiretapCentral.
    • Command Line Tool: The adapter associated with cmdjob.
    Module Info  
    Server Backburner Server software version.
    Backburner API DSO version. Should match the Backburner software version.
    Plugin Backburner Adapter version and platform info.