Help choosing Best NAS System for 4-5 Node Renderfarm

[pixavision]

Hey all,

So I need the advice of some people with experience in this area. I am currently building a render farm setup with 4-5 computers connected via Gigabit Ethernet through an 8-port d-link switch. The computer specs are below and I will be using Maya, Cinema 4d, 3ds Max, and some Nuke. I will also be using Deadline 5 (possibly upgrading to 6) to manage the exports. I will be using VRAY Distributed Rendering and Mental Ray, depending on what I'm working on. When rendering animation Deadline will be managing things.

So my question is what is the best NAS Storage system to use for storing the files on for rendering? And Gigabit Ethernet and 8-port switch is still the best method in connecting them? Any input is appreciated! I was thinking something the QNAP TS-469 Pro possibly

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=81794&vpn=TS-469%20PRO&manufacture=QNAP%20Systems%20Inc.

with WD Red NAS Drives

Computer Specs:

Master-

Dual 6-core Xeons running at 4GHz
48GB DDR3 Memory
EVGA SR-2 Motherboard
Quadro K5000 4GB Graphics Card
240GB SSD System Drive
6TB Storage
and the other usual computers parts

Slaves- 3 systems so far, but may add one more after

3930k 6-core CPU running at 4.5GHz
16GB DDR3 Memory (probably going to upgrade to 32gb per system)
Basic GT 610 Graphics card
120GB SSD System Drive
and the other usual system components


Thoughts and recommendation are appreciated, thanks so much

 

[noidea_77]

Where do you get 6-core Xeons running at 4Ghz? XEON = no overclocking! And i would very much like to see the thousands of bit errors in your output from the heavy overclocked 3930k without ecc ram.

 

[pixavision]

Where do you get 6-core Xeons running at 4Ghz? XEON = no overclocking! And i would very much like to see the thousands of bit errors in your output from the heavy overclocked 3930k without ecc ram.

They are overclocked from 3.2GHz. lol, bit errors? What difference does ECC Ram make with my overclock on the 3930k's?

 

[noidea_77]

Where do you get 6-core Xeons running at 4Ghz? XEON = no overclocking! And i would very much like to see the thousands of bit errors in your output from the heavy overclocked 3930k without ecc ram.

They are overclocked from 3.2GHz. lol, bit errors? What difference does ECC Ram make with my overclock on the 3930k's?

You have no idea what you are doing, right?

 

[pixavision]

Where do you get 6-core Xeons running at 4Ghz? XEON = no overclocking! And i would very much like to see the thousands of bit errors in your output from the heavy overclocked 3930k without ecc ram.

They are overclocked from 3.2GHz. lol, bit errors? What difference does ECC Ram make with my overclock on the 3930k's?

You have no idea what you are doing, right?

You're not very nice huh? I do have a decent amount of computer knowledge but not a tonne. Maybe instead of having a snarky tone in your replies you could be helpful to people or at least not come off as insulting.

 

[noidea_77]

A render farm typically consists of solid standard server hardware. A reference would be a HP DL360 or DL380. Models with the same specs are available from every vendor (DELL, IBM,...). The workstation has the same specs, but a different case and (silent) cooling solution. Depending on the software, you should thing about graphics cards in the servers, that support the CUDA function for faster rendering. For the NAS I recommend a six slot model for better disk utilization in raid5 or raid6

 

[digibox]

hi!
pixavision how did you resolve your network storage problem?

I have exact the same setup us you, one e3 workstation with 32gb and quadro. also 4 render slaves i7 3930k.. btw I also dont get it how ram errors affect renders?! i've been rendering for 7-8 years now and it's never been a problem.

I recently ordered NAS box with couple 3tb red drives, hoping that this will solve my network rendring workflow - will it?!

 

[FireWire2]

You should look for a NAS with Hardware RAID, due to heavy I/O
QNAP TS-469 <-- I don't think it uses a HW raid, but rather Linux (OS) RAID

 

[popatim]

While it may be heavy in the i/o department its still going out over gigabit which one fast harddrive can saturate.
I would think that a 2 NAS solution, along with 2 nic's & network paths, would be ideal. One Nas and Network path provides the source data while the second provides the final storage. Unfortunately I have not found anything that confirms this with a render farm.

 

[photoreel]

I've done nearly the same setup you are doing. 5 workstations that all join a farm mostly Dell t5500s and t7400s. I started out using NAS devices, but had to move on to a proper server (dell poweredge t310). I first tried using some D-Link NAS devices and they were a complete nightmare! NAS devices have their own OS and the quality can vary wildly. Then I tried a NetGear ReadyNAS device (4-bay NV+) and it was really great - the OS was awesome. However, the disk write speeds became and issue and eventually renders weren't getting written out correctly.

Then I switched to a Mac Pro server with an Apple Raid card. Apple raid cards often have battery issues so I would not recommend them. Also, i don't think they will run Linux off the Raid card, which might be an issue.

I ended up replacing the mac pro with the Dell server and it has been running great. You'll want to be sure to get a hardware raid and make sure the raid card can run Linux. I'd set your server raid up in raid 10 if space isn't a huge concern. Othewise Raid 5 or Raid 6. I'm running Microsoft Small Business Server Essentials, which is not that expensive. However, you could go with Cent OS for free if you're okay with Linux. I highly recommend using a server over a NAS. Also, don't forget to backup your server to an external device. you can use Retrospect software or Norton Backup Exec for this (norton is pricey, Retrospect is only for Windows and Mac).

I like Smedge for small render farm management. Backburner is free though. Heat is a big, big issue even with small farms. Also use battery backups in case the power goes out. Good luck!

 

[Duckhunt]

I am looking for move my digital movies and what not on a NAS. I have a few pcs and I am thinking about a render farm. A few folk have mentioned that DAS might be better ? Direct attached storage on the first pc and the switch is freed up to move the things between the rendering farms.

I am at an earily stage at shorting it out. My understanding is that you are moving data from the main pc to the farm pcs through the switch and then the switch is moving things to store them in the NAS.

A NAS has advantages if you plan on using the other pcs directly. Some of the set ups i have seen are NAS storage and over night rendering of the desktop pcs. The tech department sets up all the employee pcs to become part of a rendering farm at night.

Either way. NAS is overhead on your switch. But is it better to have overhead off the pc?