Century Communication : Leap 2

The process of rendering in the Visual Effects and Animation industry takes a

lot of time and requires very expensive IT hardware and software resources. It

also consumes a lot of computing power so huge clusters of servers are required

to run the rendering process. The typical problem with a VFx post production

studio is the power required to run a huge cluster of servers, the space these

server racks take, high cost of IT hardware and the time taken by the rendering

process. The traditional way of designing render farms is on 2 u form factor

servers, where each server takes more space, more power and offers comparatively

less computing power for the rendering process. More power also means that

hardware would generate that much more heat and would need more cooling and so

require more power.

Leap 2 project involved putting a pool of resources together to ensure a high

quality facility comes up to deliver high quality work for the client. The

resources pooled include: high end workstations; cluster of servers for the

render farm; a high speed network; enterprise level storage; high level of

security of data and a robust data center.

The key challenges faced during implementation were: testing blade server

technology on Windows XP platform; optimum configuration of all the 200 servers

so that they perform as one rendering platform and data security; ensuring the

entire network is connected at a very high speed.

The benefits: the facility is now servicing international clients and has

applied for ISO 27001 certification; the work is done at high speeds delivering

unmatched quality; major savings on real estate; major reduction in cooling

requirements; and time savings.