I rendered a piece in Daz Studio...6 spotlights...8 point lights...and around 40 objects...it took eight hours to render. As such, I think that a render farm would be very cool.

First question, is a render farm the same thing as a Beowulf cluster?
The reason I ask is because I am looking for information on the actual setup of the system.

So, I guess my next question is...Linux or Windows XP? 
Will Linux have the same tendency as Windows for database bloat?

Just initially I am thinking that Qube! would be a good que manager. Any thoughts?