Comment Re:IBM is a bit late. (Score 1) 313
Very true. I've been outfitting my company with a Linux renderfarm since our main renderers have been available for it (since early this year). We're looking at setting up Linux workstations, some of our animators have stated that they would prefer to be running Linux over MSWin*.
The other issue, one that should have SGI and IBM a little worried, is cheap x86 hardware. SGI and IBM both sell render units bun charge several times more than the cost of an equivelent unit assembled from off-the-shelf parts. I don't see how they can justify this cost differential in a field where shear horsepower is absolutely crucial, buying more render power by far outweighs anything else, including high individual system availability. This is a premise of clustered computing: get the most bang for the buck and make replacing a faulty node cheap and inexpensive.
--M
The other issue, one that should have SGI and IBM a little worried, is cheap x86 hardware. SGI and IBM both sell render units bun charge several times more than the cost of an equivelent unit assembled from off-the-shelf parts. I don't see how they can justify this cost differential in a field where shear horsepower is absolutely crucial, buying more render power by far outweighs anything else, including high individual system availability. This is a premise of clustered computing: get the most bang for the buck and make replacing a faulty node cheap and inexpensive.
--M
