Monitoring data access patterns in large-scale rendering

Abstract

Framestore's production of Gravity placed unprecedented demands on its storage hardware. A great deal of attention had already been spent on data management---monitoring the content of file servers. But storage hardware also has limited capacity to transfer data to and from its client machines and users; excessive demands causing 'brown outs' can substantially impact CG production and bring it to a halt. We present our work to monitor the data access demands placed on file servers. Our system is not tied to any specific server or client software, covering both batch renderfarm processing, and interactive use by users. The resulting data can be used to make immediate decisions in CG production, as well as influence long-term system & CG software design.