OptIPortals FAQ
From OptIPortal
Contents |
OptIPortals
Introduction
What is an OptIPortal
In the broadest sense an OptIPortal is a visualization cluster which can be deployed on a variety of hardware platforms. Functionally, OptIPortals are tiled displays, that is, many displays capable of acting as one or many. OptIPortals can be used in a wide variety of vizualization approaches; viewing high definition static images, video, or in streaming across one or more OptIPortals. OptIPortals can also be used for video conferencing to other OptIPortals or other compatible devices (laptops, etc.). All of these actions can be on-going, at the same time, on the OptIPortal. Middleware Applications: SAGE, DMX, Chromium, CGLX, Covise - documentati.on for these will be added to this wiki imminently. Will add networking information.
System Requirements
Software
The OptIPortal is built with Rocks, all software is provided via the Rocks installation - the specific OptIPortal components are obtained via the Viz Roll.
Rocks Installation Guide
Rocks Viz Roll Installation Guide
Hardware
System Hardware
Since Rocks is the software environment upon which the OptIPortal is based, the hardware requirements for the OptIPortal are essentially those for Rocks. Most of the deployments of OptIPortals have been done on commodity hardware, running Intel or AMD processors. Configurations are possible in which each computer in the cluster can drive one, two or more displays depending on the performance and capabilities of the chose graphics interface.
Network Hardware
A 1Gb switch is the minimum requirement for inter-nodal communication. We have used a variety of commodity switches for the cluster communication, including Cisco, Force10, SMC and NetGear.
OptIPuter Network
If you wish to connect to the OptIPuter network, be certain to verify network connectivity with your Network Engineer. You will need additional ports on your inter-nodal switch to accomodate the OptIPuter connectivity - depending upon which switch you have purchased, you may choose to use a second switch for this purpose. Please direct any questions to mailto:optiportal@calit2.net.
Graphical Hardware
Displays
Most displays suitable for computing environments will operate, however, if you will be displaying high definition imaging, it is best to use a relatively modern LCD display for your displays. We have typically used 24" and 30" LCDs.
Graphics Cards
Be sure to choose a graphics card that can drive your displays at the desired resolution. You will have to balance heat and power requirements for the systems you have selected (and for the location where the OptIPortal will reside). Proper heat balancing is essential to the longevity of the systems driving the displays.
Framing
The vendor we have used mosted often for OptIPortal framing is a company named 80/20. Below are two spreadsheets that can be used to generate a parts list for two example OptIPortals, one based on 24" Dell LCDs and the other on 30" Dell LCDs.
24-inch Parts List Spreadsheet
30-inch Parts List Spreadsheet
Framing Supply Contacts
- Mike Fanolla
- F & L Industrial Solutions, Inc.
- (858) 271-6732
- fandlindsol@sbcglobal.net
Installation and Configuration
How do I build a tiled wall or OptIPortal
There is tremendous flexibility in the hardware to be used. See Recent Deployments for a recent list of installations. Once you have your hardware setup, simply download the "kernel" CD for your architecture from http://www.rocksclusters.org - boot from this CD on your head-node, type front-end at the prompt, and follow the documentation from http://www.rocksclusters.org.
How do I update the nvidia driver?
- download the latest driver from http://www.nvidia.com
- kill the X server (boot into run-level 3) - init 3
- execute the nvidia installer script
- before restarting the X server - do the following:
- copy the nvidia installer script to: /opt/viz/drivers/nvidia - edit the installer script in this location to point to the updated script.
- now - restart the X server
How do I configure the X settings for my display layout?
Depending upon your graphics card(s) you can use 1, 2 or 4 displays per node.
- there are some prepared templates for some configurations - these are discussed in the Viz roll documentation at http://www.rocksclusters.org
- you can prepare the base xorg.conf from nvidia-settings (GUI) or via nvidia-xconfig - or if you are savvy - you can edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf by hand
- be certain to push the changes to your nodes via /opt/viz/sbin/viz-reconfig
