Blenderand LTSP

[James Goff]

Harry Sweet wrote:
> I have been experimenting using Blender with my LTSP server.  Right now the server is v6.10 (gnome) and runs all the other apps pretty well.  100 mb/s switch on my network.
>
> Blender is flaky. Crashes too often for my taste.  Runs a bit slow at least for rendering and will always crash if you quit and restart.  The video is crappy, but better client video cards will resolve that.
>
> So my questions.  1. Will upgrading to Feisty and the newer version of blender help (I had trouble with Feisty on the server when it first came out) 
>
> 2. Am I insane trying to run this app on a thin client?
>
> thanks
>
>
>   
I volunteer to administrate the computer lab at my son's school.  We use 
edubuntu, 1.86ghz Core2Duo Server with 2 gig ram for the Server, 15 
workstations ranging between 200mhz p2 and 1.4 ghz celerons pc's all 
running as thin clients.

I also teach a course in web design and multimedia using open source 
software.

Using edubuntu 6.10 we were able to successfully use blender, though it 
is sometimes an exercise in patience:)

The key things I found was that each student had to set their tmp output 
to a unique directory in their home folder.  This cut down the number of 
crashes dramatically.

I also found it was important to be sure and close out the render 
preview window, not just escape out of it.

We still had occasional crashes, so the students learned the value of 
frequently saving and making backups, but it was workable.

With 15 users it was quite slow, so we divided into teams of 2 so only 8 
machines were at use with blender at one time.

Render times weren't bad, assuming not everyone was rendering at once.

Client video cards definitely have a major impact on the responsiveness 
of the blender gui.

Blender would certainly be more practical on thick clients, but we were 
able to make it work with thin clients.

James