Setup guide

To test render node hardware for Burn, log in to the render node as root and open a terminal. Run:
/usr/discreet/<burn_version>/bin/verifyBurnServer The verifyBurnServer script checks the hardware
of the system to ensure it meets the requirements for render nodes, and displays the results.
Assess compatibility between jobs and render nodes
Read the following sections if you suspect problems are caused by memory problems on the render nodes,
or that render nodes do not meet the graphics card requirements for a certain job type.
Processing jobs that require a GPU
Some of the jobs created in your Creative Finishing application (for example, floating point jobs, such as
unclamped colors in Action, directional RGB blur, radial RGB blur) require a GPU-accelerated graphics card
in order to be rendered. While your workstation is equipped with a GPU-accelerated graphics card, and can
render such jobs locally, your background processing network is unable to render these types of jobs if no
node is equipped with a GPU.
To see if a render node has the hardware capabilities to process jobs that require a GPU, use the
verifyBurnServer script, Backburner Monitor, or Backburner Web Monitor.
If you attempt to submit a job that requires a GPU to a background processing network where no render
node is equipped with a GPU, one of the following situations occurs:
■ If the BackburnerManagerGroupCapability keyword in the application’s init.cfg file is set up correctly,
the application does not attempt to submit the job to the background processing network, and an error
message is displayed. You must render the respective job locally on the Creative Finishing workstation.
■ If the BackburnerManagerGroupCapability keyword is not set up properly, no error message is displayed
and the application attempts to send the job to the background processing network. Since no render
node can process the job, the job will be stuck in the queue indefinitely.
Use Backburner Monitor or the application’ s Background I/O window to remove the job from the queue,
and then set the BackburnerManagerGroupCapability keyword properly to reflect the hardware capabilities
of your background processing network.
To avoid further problems, before attempting to submit a job that requires a GPU to your background
processing network, make sure at least one of the render nodes is equipped with a GPU, and that the
BackburnerManagerGroupCapability keyword in the application’s init.cfg file is set up correctly.
Troubleshoot memory problems
This section explains how to diagnose and address problems that are caused by jobs submitted from
workstations with more memory than the render node.
Inferno , Flame , Flint , Smoke , and Backdraft Conform are all 64-bit applications, and can thus make full
use of up to 16 GB of memory.
As a general rule, render nodes should have the same amount of RAM as the Creative Finishing workstation
you are sending jobs from.
A Burn server running on a render node equipped with less memory than what is installed on your Creative
Finishing workstation, may fail when processing these jobs due to their higher memory demands. However,
do not assume that every problem on render nodes with less memory than your workstation is exclusively
caused by memory issues.
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