A server group is a named collection
of render nodes that is treated, for the most part, as if it were
a single node. By default, jobs are submitted by creative applications
to the Backburner network as a whole. It is the Backburner Manager
that determines the specific render nodes to which they are sent, based
on job type and node availability. However, certain Autodesk applications
can be configured to submit jobs to a specific server group.
Server groups can be
used to implement a job-processing strategy. For example, consider
a facility with two Visual Effects and Finishing applications, and a
render farm consisting of eight Burn nodes, four of which are GPU-enabled. In
such a situation, you might create two server groups, one each for
the non-GPU and GPU-enabled Burn nodes. By assigning each Visual
Effects and Finishing workstation to a different server group, you
can reserve the GPU-enabled Burn nodes for the workstation with
higher priority or more demanding jobs.
It should be understood
that server groups do not restrict your ability to assign render
nodes to particular jobs as you see fit. When a creative application
is configured to submit its jobs to a server group, additional nodes
can be assigned to it, automatically, or manually, once the job
is on the network. Conversely, you can always remove individual
nodes from a job, regardless of their relationship to a server group.
Use
the following procedures to create or delete a named collection
of render nodes, called a server group, and to assign a
server group to a job.
NoteFor information on
configuring a creative application to submit jobs to a server group,
see the User Guide for the application of choice. To configure a
Visual Effects and Finishing application to submit its jobs to a
server group, set the optional BackburnerManagerGroup keyword
in the application's init.cfg file. See the Burn
Installation and User Guide. For Smoke for Mac OS X,
this can be done in the Smoke Setup UI.
To create a server group:
- On the Server Groups tab, click the Create
button.
The Create Server Group
dialog appears.
- Enter a name for the new server group
in the Group Name field.
- Add render nodes to the group by selecting
them in the Available Servers list and moving
them to the Servers in Group list.
- Once you are satisfied with your choices,
click OK to commit the changes.
The new server group
is added to the list.
NoteServer groups you
create in the Backburner Web Monitor appear as global groups
in Backburner Windows Monitor.
To assign a server group to a job:
- On the Jobs tab, select the job of interest
and choose Settings from the Action menu, or double-click the job.
The Job Details page
appears.
- In the Job Details page, click on the
Server Assignment tab.
- Choose a server group from the Assigned
Server Group menu.
- Apply your changes, then click Refresh
to update the display.
Compatible servers belonging
to the group appear in the Assigned Servers list.
NoteIf an expected server
belonging to the chosen group does not appear in the list, it can
indicate the server is absent, or does not have the correct
adapter installed. The manager will only assign servers that are
able to carry out the job.
NoteChanged settings
apply to new tasks only. Completed tasks are not reprocessed. To
reprocess completed tasks, restart the job from the beginning. See
Restarting Jobs.
To delete a server group:
- On the Server Groups tab, select the
server group of interest and click the Delete button.
- When prompted to confirm your action,
click OK.
The selected server group
is deleted.