Curiosities Regarding Render Farms and NAS

[JerseyXS97]

Hello LTT Forum! I'm a 3D artist and video editor (The editing is only for mods I create, for trailers. Also, AI Video Upscaling) and I recently decided to re-purpose as many of my old parts as possible to create a small scale render farm, totaling 3 PCs with variable specs (Listed below). I still have one CPU left over as well, with 16GB RAM and a motherboard that may or may not work. So, I have a few small questions that I would prefer to have clarified before I proceed.

1. For the programs that I use (Listed below), what would be a preferable program to set up a proper render farm? (All of these are currently connected to a 5-port network switch)
2. Is it feasible to have a 4th machine with my extra i7-6700 that would reliably act as both a NAS as well as another render node? (I have my eyes on a SilverStone DS380B)
   1. Should this be feasible, what would be a decent Mini-ITX motherboard that supports both LGA1151 and 8 SATA ports, or would I need a proper RAID card? If a NAS + Render combo is indeed feasible, I would prefer to keep my PCIe slot available for use with a GPU as a lot of my rendering and upscaling is GPU accelerated.
3. I currently use LANShare to pass files between my PCs. This works very well for larger files and smaller folders, but if I wanted to transfer larger projects the program tends to freeze with how many files there are. Is there a decent alternative for file transfers?
4. What would be a useful remote desktop program to use? I don't believe all of my programs support a proper render farm setup and would need a file transfer + manual render.
5. Will the different specs across the 3 (or 4) PCs cause trouble?

Current Spare Parts (That could be used):

• Intel Core i7-6700
• Corsair CX600M
• Crucial Ballistix Tactical 240-Pin DIMM 16GB (2 x 8gb)
• Asus H170I-PLUS D3 Mini ITX Motherboard

Programs Used:

• 3DS Max
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Premiere Pro
• Marmoset Toolbag 3
• Substance Designer
• Substance Painter
• ZBrush
• A bit of Unreal Engine 4
• Topaz AI Suite (For video and image upscaling)
• This will also be used in part as a home media and backup server, most of the video upscaling I've done is my own movies

Workstation PC:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i9-9900K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	Purchased For $509.99
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15 CHROMAX.BLACK 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler	Purchased For $99.95
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX Z390-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	Purchased For $238.60
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	Purchased For $250.00
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	Purchased For $250.00
Storage	Toshiba OCZ TR200 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$155.74 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital Blue 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	Purchased For $139.99
Storage	Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$114.99 @ Adorama
Storage	Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$114.99 @ Adorama
Storage	Inland Premium 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$119.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital HGST DC HC530 14 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$377.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital HGST DC HC530 14 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$377.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 24 GB Founders Edition Video Card
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Pro M TG ATX Mid Tower Case	Purchased For $89.99
Power Supply	Corsair RMx 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	Purchased For $149.99
Optical Drive	LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer	Purchased For $55.00
Monitor	Asus VS228H-P 21.5" 1920x1080 Monitor	$99.99 @ Amazon
Monitor	Asus VG278HV 27.0" 1920x1080 144 Hz Monitor	Purchased For $259.99
Monitor	LG 27UD58-B 27.0" 3840x2160 60 Hz Monitor	$339.99 @ B&H
Monitor	LG 27GL850-B 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor	$489.99 @ Best Buy
Keyboard	Logitech G910 Orion Spectrum RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard	$99.99 @ Amazon
Mouse	Logitech G602 Wireless Optical Mouse	Purchased For $34.80
Custom	Huion KAMVAS GT-191 Drawing Tablet with HD Screen 8192 Pressure Sensitivity - 19.5 Inch	Purchased For $500.00
Custom	LG OLED55CXPUA Alexa Built-in CX Series 55" 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED TV (2020)	Purchased For $1596.99
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$6466.94
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-10-19 00:25 EDT-0400

Render PC 1:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor	$429.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Corsair H80i v2 70.69 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler	$114.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard	$212.96 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory	$154.99 @ Corsair
Storage	Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$64.98 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive	$94.99 @ Adorama
Storage	Hitachi Deskstar 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$47.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	MSI GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB VENTUS GP OC Video Card	$529.99 @ B&H
Case	Thermaltake Core V1 Mini ITX Desktop Case	$53.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair RMx (2018) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$134.99 @ Corsair
Case Fan	be quiet! Silent Wings 3 73.33 CFM 120 mm Fan	$23.40 @ Amazon
Case Fan	be quiet! Silent Wings 3 73.33 CFM 120 mm Fan	$23.40 @ Amazon
Case Fan	be quiet! Pure Wings 2 26.3 CFM 80 mm Fan	$9.90 @ Amazon
Case Fan	be quiet! Pure Wings 2 26.3 CFM 80 mm Fan	$9.90 @ Amazon
Keyboard	Logitech K480 Bluetooth Wireless Slim Keyboard	Purchased For $34.99
Mouse	Logitech M325 Wireless Optical Mouse	$17.99 @ Best Buy
Custom	32" Westinghouse W3223 720p Widescreen LCD HDTV - 16:9 2000:1 6.5ms 3 HDMI ATSC/QAM/NTSC Tuners (Black)	Purchased For $120.00
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2079.44
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-10-19 00:20 EDT-0400

Render PC 2:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i7-10700K 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor	$377.77 @ B&H
CPU Cooler	NZXT Kraken X63 98.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler	$149.85 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX B460-I GAMING Mini ITX LGA1200 Motherboard	$145.58 @ B&H
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$111.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	Purchased For $107.99
Storage	Samsung 970 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	Purchased For $169.99
Storage	Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive	Purchased For $129.99
Storage	Western Digital Blue 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive	Purchased For $84.99
Storage	Western Digital Blue 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive	Purchased For $84.99
Video Card	MSI GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB GAMING X 8G Video Card	Purchased For $669.99
Case	Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Mini ITX Tower Case	Purchased For $73.00
Power Supply	Corsair RMx (2018) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$134.99 @ Corsair
Case Fan	Thermaltake Riing 40.6 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack	Purchased For $47.00
Custom	Dell 19" E198WFPV DVI 720p Widescreen LCD Monitor	Purchased For $50.00
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2338.12
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-10-19 00:19 EDT-0400

Render PC 3 + NAS?:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i7-6700 3.4 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$349.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus H170I-PLUS D3 Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory	Crucial Ballistix Tactical 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3-1600 CL8 Memory
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$69.00 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate IronWolf NAS 16 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$464.00 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate IronWolf NAS 16 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$464.00 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate IronWolf NAS 16 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$464.00 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate IronWolf NAS 16 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$464.00 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate IronWolf NAS 16 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$464.00 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate IronWolf NAS 16 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$464.00 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate IronWolf NAS 16 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$464.00 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate IronWolf NAS 16 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$464.00 @ Amazon
Case	Silverstone DS380B Mini ITX Tower Case	$186.99 @ B&H
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA GM 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply	$118.94 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$4436.92
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-10-19 00:27 EDT-0400

 

[JerseyXS97]

Apologies for the double post as opposed to the edit, but I would also like to note that there is a possibility that the motherboard I have a spare of may be dead. So with that in mind, while I absolutely love the case that I have listed above for the possible NAS, I am also open to alternatives as needed. A Fractal Design Node 804 is a good alternative that would also allow me to use my extra 2080Ti and have similar storage, at the cost of it being larger overall. The Cooler Master HAF XB EVO is another tempting option with a bit less space for 3.5" drives, and again a bit larger. I'm trying to keep it as compact as possible and would prefer not to go as large as a mid-tower ATX case.

 

Otherwise, I do have two PCIe to SATA 4x cards, so a larger motherboard would make it feasible to use one of those if needed as well. A lot of compromises and options here.

[Electronics Wizardy]

11 hours ago, JerseyXS97 said:

For the programs that I use (Listed below), what would be a preferable program to set up a proper render farm? (All of these are currently connected to a 5-port network switch)

Do you ahve 10gbe on the switch, id try to get 10gbe with the size of the drives, 1gbe is gonna take a long time to copy files

 

For program compatibility, look up how to run that program in a render farm, things like premiere won't run on a cluster, but stuff like 3ds max should be able to, but depends on the renderer used.

 

11 hours ago, JerseyXS97 said:

Is it feasible to have a 4th machine with my extra i7-6700 that would reliably act as both a NAS as well as another render node? (I have my eyes on a SilverStone DS380B)

Yea it will work fine but with the speed decrease, idk if the 6700k would be worth it to add.

 

11 hours ago, JerseyXS97 said:

I currently use LANShare to pass files between my PCs. This works very well for larger files and smaller folders, but if I wanted to transfer larger projects the program tends to freeze with how many files there are. Is there a decent alternative for file transfers?

Just use the built in smb shareing in windows. THen you can mount the nas drive on the clients and it will work like a local drive. 

 

11 hours ago, JerseyXS97 said:

What would be a useful remote desktop program to use? I don't believe all of my programs support a proper render farm setup and would need a file transfer + manual render.

Just use RDP built into windows, easy to use, built in, works well

 

11 hours ago, JerseyXS97 said:

Will the different specs across the 3 (or 4) PCs cause trouble?

Normally not for the programs, but you don't want them too far off. NOrmally there is some sort of manager that splits work between the system and they all do a small chunk at a time.

 

11 hours ago, JerseyXS97 said:

Should this be feasible, what would be a decent Mini-ITX motherboard that supports both LGA1151 and 8 SATA ports, or would I need a proper RAID card? If a NAS + Render combo is indeed feasible, I would prefer to keep my PCIe slot available for use with a GPU as a lot of my rendering and upscaling is GPU accelerated.

according to pcpp, there is no itx mobo that will work with your cpu and has 8 sata ports. You either need a hba(id get this instead of a raid card, then use software raid), or get a server board that supports more sata ports and is itx. I think the 1gbe will limit you aswell. 

 

Also id really try to go atx or matx for the nas, really helps with your options.