Okay....

 

1. You don't have to use a router. A switch will do just fine, as you are not using the actual internet for your connectivity. If you -have- a router with integrated switch, that works just fine. My setup has my main CG box on a router port, my mainbox on another, and a line to the rack I built downstairs off a 3rd switch port. That goes to a 16 port gigabit switch that downstairs and the 6 renderboxes I keep there are connected to.

 

2. You need to know the speed of the nic on each computer. If all of them are gigabit ethernet, then it is worth the extra cost to make sure you have a gigabit switch and Cat 6 cables connecting everything. The faster speed will really help in loading scene and texture files. However, if any one of the computers only runs 10/100, then don't waste your money on gigabit. Networking logic is designed to run at the safest, most reliable speed. You could have a 48 port gigabit switch, with 47 gigabit capable computers on it. But if that 48th computer is only 10/100, it will slow the entire network down to that speed. So be sure gigabit is worth it before spending the money; a 10/100 5 port switch costs about $20 at the office supply stores. Less if you shop online. a gigabit 5 port switch runs about $54.

Cables show the same thing. Cat 5 patch cords are cheaper than Cat 6 are (oh, and make sure you do =NOT= wind up getting a crossover cable. This is specifically for connecting two computers together with no switching or routing, and is used for file transfers.

 

3. Install the rendercow on -all three- computers. When the hypervue manager is running, Vue itself is incapable of rendering, as it is supporting the manager. So you need a 'cow on that system as well. And you want to make sure that this system has a little bit more memory than your dedicated render nodes, as there is overhead on hypervue.

 

4. Make sure your AV software and firewall is behaving. Some AV apps treat the rendercow functioning as port sniffing, and block it automatically. Some apps you can configure to allow the communication, others you simply have to disable the protection.

 

5. Make sure your computers have adequate cooling space. CG rendering is hard on CPU's, RAM, and hard drives, resulting in a lot of heat. Good airflow is essential to keep your hardware stable, and to not shorten its life.

 

6. Make sure you can get to your render boxes. If a cow is crashed by a broken render, you'll have to shut it down and restart it again to use it. If the computers are all in the same room, you might want to consider investing in a 4 port KVM switch, if your systems are still wired. That will allow one keyboard, mouse, and monitor to function for all of them.