HP sv6 User Manual

installation and user’s guide

hp visualization center sv6

Manufacturing Part Number: A6062-90005

Edition: E0302

Printed in U.S.A

legal notices

The information in this document is subject to change without notice.

Hewlett-Packard makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this manual, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and ﬁtness for a particular purpose.

errors contained herein or direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.

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Hewlett-Packard shall not be held liable for

Reproduction, adaptation, or translation of this document without prior written permission is prohibited, except as allowed under the copyright laws.

©copyright 1986-1992 Sun Microsystems, Inc. ©copyright 1985-86, 1988 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ©copyright 1989-93 The Open Software Foundation, Inc. ©copyright 1986 Digital Equipment Corporation. ©copyright 1990 Motorola, Inc. ©copyright 1990, 1991, 1992 Cornell University ©copyright 1989-1991 The University of Maryland ©copyright 1988 Carnegie Mellon University

trademark notices. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and

other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Limited. X Window System is a trademark of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

printing history

The manual printing date and part number indicate its current edition. The printing date will change when a new edition is printed. Minor changes may be made at reprint without changing the printing date. The manual part number will change when extensive changes are made.

Manual updates may be issued between editions to correct errors or document product changes. To ensure that you receive the updated or new editions, you should subscribe to the appropriate product support service. See your HP sales representative for details.

First Edition: March 2002 Printing Division:

Hewlett-Packard Co. Technical Computer Division 3404 E. Harmony Rd. Fort Collins, CO 80525

hp product warranty statement

NOTE This warranty statement supersedes any and all previous HP-UX

workstation warranty statements for the Hewlett-Packard workstations speciﬁed herein. The Parts-Only Base Warranty is offered only in the U.S.; for country-speciﬁc warranties, contact your HP Country Sales Representative. The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. For warranty information on the other components of the hp visualization center sv6 system, see the warranty documentation that accompanies those components.

HP PRODUCT: DURATION OF WARRANTY:

hp workstations j6000, j6700 and b2600 1 Year

1. HP warrants HP hardware, accessories and supplies against defects in

materials and workmanship for the period speciﬁed above. If HP receives notice of such defects during the warranty period, HP will, at its option, either repair or replace products which prove to be defective. Replacement products may be either new or like-new.

2. HP warrants that HP software will not fail to execute its programming

instructions, for the period speciﬁed above, due to defects in material and workmanship when properly installed and used. If HP receives notice of such defects during the warranty period, HP will replace the software medium which does not execute its programming instructions due to such defects.

3. HP doesnotwarrant that the operation of HP products will be uninterrupted

or error free. If HP is unable, within a reasonable time, to repair or replace any product to a condition as warranted, the customer will be entitled to a refund of the purchase price upon prompt return of the product.

4. HP products may contain remanufactured parts equivalent to new in

performance or may have been subject to incidental use.

5. The warranty period begins on the date of delivery or on the date of

installation if installed by HP. If customer schedules installation or causes installation by HP to be delayed more than 30 days after delivery, warranty begins on the 31st day from delivery.

6. Warranty does not apply to defects resulting from (a) improper or inadequate

maintenance or calibration, (b) software, interfacing, parts or supplies not supplied by HP, (c) unauthorized modiﬁcation or misuse, (d) operation outside of the published environmental speciﬁcations for the product, or (e) improper site preparation or maintenance.

7. TO THE EXTENT ALLOWED BY LOCAL LAW, THE ABOVE

WARRANTIES ARE EXCLUSIVE AND NO OTHER WARRANTY OR CONDITION, WHETHER WRITTEN OR ORAL, IS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED AND HP SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

8. HP will be liable for damage to tangible property per incident up to the

greater of $300,000 or the actual amount paid for the product that is the subject of the claim, and for damages for bodily injury or death, to the extent that all such damages are determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to have been directly caused by a defective HP product.

9. TO THE EXTENT ALLOWED BY LOCAL LAW, THE REMEDIES IN THIS

WARRANTY STATEMENT ARE CUSTOMERS’ SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDIES. EXCEPT AS INDICATED ABOVE, IN NO EVENT WILL HP OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR LOSS OF DATA OR FOR DIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL (INCLUDING LOST PROFIT OR DATA), OR OTHER DAMAGE, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE.

FOR CONSUMER TRANSACTIONS IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND: THE WARRANTY TERMS CONTAINED IN THIS STATEMENT, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT LAWFULLY PERMITTED, DO NOT EXCLUDE, RESTRICT OR MODIFY AND ARE IN ADDITION TO THE MANDATORY STATUTORY RIGHTS APPLICABLE TO THE SALE OF THIS PRODUCT TO YOU.

for additional information

There are several sources of hp visualization center sv6 documentation that were either shipped with your system or are available at various Web sites:

• hp visualization center sv6 Site Preparation Guide (HP Part No. A6062-90006)

• hp visualization center sv6 Troubleshooting Guide (available on http://www.hp.com/go/workstationsupport Web site)

• hp visualization center sv6 Recovery Instructions CD Booklet (HP Part No. A6062-90010 included in the Recovery CD jewel case)

• hp ProCurve Switch User’s Guide — hp 10/100 ProCurve (J4813A)

— hp ProCurve Switch 4108gl (J4865A)

• Digi EtherLite-32 terminal Server documentation (CD instructions or http://www.digi.com).

For further information, refer to these Web pages:

• HP immersive environments page:

http://www.hp.com/go/immersive/index.html

• User Guides for hp workstations:

http://www.hp.com/go/workstationsupport/documentation/manuals /user_guides

NOTE Every effort was made to make sure this information was complete at the

time it was printed. However, additional information and troubleshooting tips may have become available after this guide was printed. For the very latest information, please visit the http://www.hp.com/go/workstationsupport Web site.

viewing documentation on the recovery CD

All hp visualization center sv6 documentation is also included on the hp visualization center sv6 Installation/Recovery CD that is shipped with

your system.To view these documents:

1. Mount the CD by executing:

mount /dev/dsk/c0t0d0 /cdrom

2. Make sure the directory for your Adobe Acrobat Reader is in your PATH:

export PATH=$PATH:/opt/Acrobat4/bin

3. The following hp visualization center sv6 documentation is available:

sv6SitePrepGuide.pdf sv6InstUsersGuide.pdf sv6TroubleShootGuide.pdf

4. To view the ﬁles:

acroread /cdrom/<filename.pdf>

Contents

1. safety and support information

how to obtain support for your sv6 system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

safety warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

rack stability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

power distribution units (PDUs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

metallic particulate contamination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

2. installation and user information

document purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

section descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

product overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

hp visualization center sv6 components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

hp visualization center sv6 architecture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

supported conﬁgurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

software conﬁgurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

installation process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

preparation for wide ﬁeld displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

hp visualization center sv6 installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

software setup speciﬁcations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

updating software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

maintain current graphics patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Installation Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

uninstallation steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

installing to all sv6 systems using HP Software Distributor . . . . . . .50

step 1: preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

step 2: copy and register locally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

step3: install . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

step 4: veriﬁcation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Contents

advanced setup for multiple display channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

additional X server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

conﬁguring offset overlap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

backdrops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

changing resolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

how to use hp visualization center sv6 tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

sv6 diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

stereoscopic viewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

active stereo overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

passive stereo overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

stereo hardware installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

changing to stereo monitor mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

pass through mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

gamma value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

HPOGL_PUSH _ENVIRONMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

3. ﬁle conﬁguration

4. projector calibration targets

how to use projector calibration targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

A. hp scalable visualization digital compositor

compositor cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

compositor parts list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

compositor conﬁgurations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

sv6 compositor frame delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

compositor self-test sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Contents

introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105

interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105

procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105

testing output or input cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106

testing controller cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106

LED indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106

B. hp mini-sv6 conﬁguration

mini-sv6 conﬁguration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108

C. regulatory information

FCC radio frequency interference statement

(USA only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

glossary

Contents

1 safety and support information

Proper site preparation and maintenance are vital to the reliability of any computer hardware component. In order for HP to provide you with quality service, please ensure that the proper computer room conditions are maintained. This allows HP to provide support services in

Chapter 1 11

safety and support information

how to obtain support for your sv6 system

accordance with your Customer Support Services Agreement. For your protection, HP products are tested for conformance to various

national and international regulations and standards. The scope of this regulatory testing includes electrical and mechanical safety, electromagnetic emissions,electromagnetic immunity, ESD (electrostatic discharge), acoustics, and hazardous materials. Where required, certiﬁcations are obtained from third-party test agencies. Certiﬁcation marks appear on the product label. In addition, various regulatory bodies require information to appear in User Manuals.

how to obtain support for your sv6 system

If you know you have a hardware problem:

1. Retrieve the model number and serial number of the failed hardware.

2. Call the HP Customer Care Center for your region, country or province. These numbers can be found at: http://www.hp.com under Technical Support. For example, use 1-800-633-3600 for North America.

3. When you reach the appropriate Customer Care Center, you will have several options. Press 1 for Hardware Support.

4. For warranty veriﬁcation and to help track your call, you will be asked to provide the model number and serial number for the failed hardware (see Step 1 above).

5. If the HP Call Agent cannot resolve your problem, then tell the Call Agent that the failed or problematic hardware is part of an hp sv6 scalable visualization system. Your call will be re-directed to an hp sv6 expert who is trained to provide solution-level assistance.

If you have a software problem or don't know the source of the problem:

1. Retrieve the software “handle” (a unique support identiﬁer) that was provided with the hp sv6 system at installation.

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safety and support information

how to obtain support for your sv6 system

2. Call the HP Customer Care Center for your region, country or province. These numbers can be found at: http://www.hp.com under Technical Support. For example, use 1-800-633-3600 for North America.

3. When you reach the appropriate Customer Care Center, you will have several options. Press 2 for Software Support.

4. For call tracking purposes, you will be asked to provide the HP Call Agent with your software “handle” (see Step 1 above).

5. Tell the Call Agent that you have an hp sv6 scalable visualization system. The Call Agent will re-direct your call to an hp sv6 expert who is trained to provide assistance with your system

Chapter 1 13

safety and support information

safety warnings

WARNING An hp visualization sv6 product rack can weigh 1500 lbs. (681 kg)

when fully loaded with hardware components. Heed all of the conditions in the WARNING statement under the RACK STABILITY subsection below when moving and servicing an HP product rack and its rack-mounted hardware components.

WARNING Your hp visualization center sv6 product may not have been

evaluated for connection to an IT power system (an AC distribution system having a high impedance connection to earth according to IEC 950).

rack stability

WARNING To reduce the risk of rack instability:

• Install the heavier hardware components at the bottom of the

rack, below the center of gravity for the rack. Never install heavier components in the top or upper portion of the rack.

• Make sure that the anti-tip plate is installed on the rack. Do

not remove the anti-tip foot from the rack.

• Always extend the anti-tip plate before extending a

rack-mounted component for servicing.

• Extend only one rack-mounted component at a time.

• Do not stand or sit on any extended component.

• Have all non-operator servicing done by qualiﬁed HP service

personnel.

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safety and support information

safety warnings

power distribution units (PDUs)

A Power Distribution Unit (PDU) is equipment located in or near a computer room which breaks down electric power from a high-voltage source to appropriate levels of distribution to the central processing unit and peripheral devices of a computer system. Figure 1-1 shows an example PDU that is used with the HP product racks. This example is the HP E7674A 16 Amp 100-240VAC PDU (part number A5137AZ).

CAUTION Some components have been designed to be used with speciﬁc electrical

accessories such as PDUs. The use of any accessory other than those speciﬁed is neither recommended nor supported.

Figure 1-1 A Sample Power Distribution Unit (PDU)

Qty=7

IEC320-C13

IEC320-C19

Modular PDU C20 Inlet

Chapter 1 15

safety and support information

safety warnings

Figure 1-2 Cable and Plugs Between the PDU and the Wall Receptacle

IEC309

L6-20P

L6-30P

IEC-320-C19

CEE7/7

Unterminated

PDU leakage current

WARNING Due to the number of components that can be installed on one

Power Distribution Unit (PDU), there may be a risk of high leakage current (>3.5mA). Reliable ground circuit continuity is vital for safe operation of such components. To reduce the risk of electric shock, connect each component to a grounded outlet only. Never operate any component with its ground pin disconnected from the socket of a grounded outlet.

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safety and support information

safety warnings

PDU power limitations

To reduce the risk of overload, do not exceed the rated load of any single PDU. In addition, do not load a single NEMA 5-15 (see Fig. 1-3) receptacle with more than 15 Amperes and any single IEC 320-1/C13 receptacle with more than 10 Amperes. In general, make sure that the power source circuits are able to safely provide the current that will be required by all components drawing power from them. This document assumes that 220V and 240V cables are used.

NEMA 5-15 Receptacle

Do not load this connector with more than 15 Amps

metallic particulate contamination

Metallic particulates can be especially harmful around electronic equipment. This type of contamination may enter the data center environment from a variety of sources, including, but not limited to, raised ﬂoor tiles, worn air conditioning parts, heating ducts, rotor brushes in vacuum cleaners or printer component wear. Because metallic particulates conduct electricity, they have an increased potential for creating short circuits in electronic equipment. This problem is exaggerated by the increasingly dense circuitry of electronic equipment.

Over time, very ﬁne whiskers of pure metal can form on electroplated zinc, cadmium, or tin surfaces. If these whiskers are disturbed, they may break off and become airborne, possibly causing failures or operational interruptions. Forover 50 years, the electronics industry has been aware of the relatively rare, but possible, threat posed by metallic particulate contamination. During recent years, a growing concern has developed in computer rooms where these conductive contaminants are formed on the bottom of some raised ﬂoor tiles.

Chapter 1 17

safety and support information

safety warnings

Although this problem is relatively rare, it may be an issue within your computer room. Since metallic contamination can cause permanent or intermittent failures on your electronic equipment, Hewlett-Packard strongly recommends that your site be evaluated for metallic particulate contamination before installation of electronic equipment.

Chapter 118

2 installation and user information

Chapter 2 19

installation and user information

document purpose

The purpose of this document is to provide information on installing, customizing and using hp visualization center sv6 systems. Because the workstations will arrive racked, pre-cabled and pre-conﬁgured, minimal information about hardware setup is included in this document. Sections of this document provide steps for setting up and conﬁguring systems. There are also sections that provide instructions on how to use hp visualization center sv6-speciﬁc tools. Refer to the Glossary for deﬁnitions of terms used in this document.

See the following documents for additional information:

• hp visualization center sv6 Site Prep Guide for cooling, space and

• hp visualization center sv6 Troubleshooting Guide - see

power requirements, etc.

http://www.hp.com/go/workstationsupportfor tips on how to resolve problems you may encounter during the initial setup and customization.

• hp disk system ds2100 - see

http://www.hp.com/products1/storage/disk_arrays/disksystems/ds 2100/supplies/index.html

• /etc/X11/X0screens for X server conﬁguration details or /usr/lib/X11/Xserver/misc/slsd/templates/ for hp

visualization center sv6 X0screens templates.

• /usr/lib/X11/Xserver/info/screens/hp for non- hp visualization center sv6 X server conﬁguration details.

•/opt/graphics/OpenGL/sv/doc/README.* for details about hp visualization center sv6 tools.

section descriptions

• Product Overview - Provides a general hardware and software architecture overview.

• Installation - Steps that the hp visualization center sv6 installer will help you accomplish.

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installation and user information

document purpose

• Software Set-Up Speciﬁcations - Reference for the software that was pre-loaded on your system.

• Updating Software - Explains how and when to do software and ﬁrmware updates. Keeping your graphics patches updated is essential for taking full advantage of this new technology.

• Advanced Set-Up for Multiple Channels - Gives an overview of how to use multiple hp visualization center sv6 clusters to output across multiple display devices. This is a reference for anyone who wants to upgrade to multiple channels.

• Usage - General instructions on how to do typical tasks. Although you can run applications on the hp visualization center sv6 the same way you would on any HP-UX workstation, there are a few hp visualization center sv6-speciﬁc tasks that can be performed.

• How To Use hp visualization center sv6 Tools - Reference for hp visualization center sv6-speciﬁc tools.

• Stereoscopic Viewing - Describes both active and passive stereo options and how to enable them.

• Optimization - Suggests methods for optimizing both rendering performance and image quality for your application or data sets.

Chapter 2 21

installation and user information

product overview

The hp visualization center sv6 solution is a system developed to meet your visualization performance and image quality needs. The key attributes that make this system unique from existing scalable solutions include:

• scalable rendering performance, image quality and resolution,

• resources can be dynamically switched between performance and

• use of standard SPU and graphics components.

The hp visualization center sv6 provides the following beneﬁts:

• Applications that currently run on standalone hp visualization

• The use of standard components with the ability to add, re-deploy or

image quality,

center systems today can also run unmodiﬁed on hp visualization center sv6 systems and immediately take advantage of the scaling and image quality improvements.

upgrade these components provides signiﬁcant investment protection.

• The individual workstations of the scalable system can be used as computational resources when not being used for visualization.

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installation and user information

product overview

Figure 2-1 hp visualization centers sv6 (j6700) and mini-sv6 (b2600)

The hp visualization center sv6 is:

• A scalable solution for OpenGL display list-based applications that provides geometry acceleration of aliased rendering that is greater than stand-alone hp workstation performance.

• A solution that offers increased visual quality via anti-aliasing at stand-alone hp workstation performance rates, or better.

• A solution that is scalable in any combination of performance, visual quality or screen resolution; limited only by supported conﬁgurations.

• A solution that is transparent to the application.

• A solution that involves multiple standard graphics pipelines rendering a common model with a single view frustum.

• An OpenGL HP-UX 11.0 based solution only.

hp visualization center sv6 employs a parallel rendering architecture. It uses dedicated accelerators for rendering portions of a given screen. The resulting renderings (called “screen rectangles”) are synchronized and displayed as a single image through additional hardware.

hp visualization center sv6 is based on a client/server architecture called Distributed Single LogicalScreen (SLS/d). This technology transparently manages multiple clients that render portions of a given screen. Each hp

Chapter 2 23

installation and user information

product overview

visualization center hp visualization center sv6 cluster is made up of one 2D master node and a supported number of 3D slave nodes. The 2D node is responsible for rendering the GUI and X11 rendering primitives. The 3D slave nodes, also called “pipes,” are responsible for rendering all or some part of the 3D scene. The video output from each node is then combined, or composited, to a single monitor.

To obtain multiple channels of output, multiple clusters can be used. A “channel” refers to one output device, typically a monitor. This allows for more screen “real estate” (two or three displays) by using multiple hp visualization center sv6 clusters.

hp visualization center sv6 components

• A cluster of racked, graphics-enabled hp workstations j6000

• Scalable Visualization Digital Compositor (A6061A).

• Private, High-Speed Gigabit Network - hp ProCurve switch 4108gl

(A5990A), j6700 (A7278B) or b2600 (A6070A).

(J41865A).

• hp ProCurve 10/100 Base-T 2524 switch (J4813A) for LAN connection.

• Digi EtherLite-32 Terminal Server (DGZ1469C).

• EasySetup HP-UX 11.0 operating system (B5532A).

• Scalable Visualization-enabled software (X Server, OpenGL, 3DCommon, etc.).

• Customized Conﬁguration Files (see Chapter 3).

Figure 2-2 is an example of a 16-pipe system that shows the hardware components.

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Figure 2-2 16-pipe system conﬁguration

installation and user information

product overview

NOTE Arrangement of the hardware in the racks may vary.

The 2D master system controls the rendering that happens on the 3D pipes. The output of each pipe is then fed into hardware called the Digital Compositor. The Compositor combines the inputs into a single output stream to the display. A local high-speed Gigabit Ethernet switch (hp ProCurve Switch) which connects the systems.

The Digi EtherLite-32 terminal server (D GZ1469C) is a low-cost option for consolidating consoles. Each Digi switch provides remote access for up to 32 systems. The Digi EtherLite driver runs on the master system.

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This driver communicates with the EtherLite-32 and makes the Digi switch’s serial connections appear as though they were direct serial connections to the master system. Thus, the master node communicates with the slave node via a serial port communications program, such as cu on HP-UX or the dinc program supplied with the Digi switch.

Examples for accessing save node #2:

cu -l/dev/ttyn01 -s 9600 /usr/local/bin/dinc /dev/digi/sv2

The Digi EtherLite-32 has its own IP address and is connected to the 10/100 hub. RJ45 ports are connected to serial port 1 of each slave node via an RS-232 adapter.

Figure 2-3 Single Display Channel

Each workstation has one graphics card. The master workstation does 2D rendering and the rest of the workstations do 3D rendering. Each hp visualization center sv6 cluster outputs to a single display. Each graphics device is connected to the compositor through a digital video connection. Each workstation is connected to the hp ProCurve 10/100 BaseT switch (J4813A) which provides a connection to the site’s LAN.

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Figure 2-4 Multiple Display Channels

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For multiple displays (up to three displays) additional hp visualization center sv6 clusters can be added to increase screen real-estate. “Screen real estate” describes the expanded workspace created by spreading one continuous screen across several display devices.

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hp visualization center sv6 architecture

This section discusses a general overview of how the hardware is used by the hp visualization center sv6 architecture, using a 16-pipe system as an example:

Figure 2-5 16-pipe System Architecture

The 16-pipe system contains 16 hp workstations j6000 (A5990A) or j6700 (A7278A) which perform the 3D rendering. Each of these machines

contain the hp fx10 Graphics Accelerator Card (A1299B). Each fx10 DVI (Digital Video Interface) output connects to an input of the digital compositor (A6061A).

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The 17th hp workstation fulﬁlls three roles:

1. Application Server: This is the machine on which the application runs. Graphics protocol based on OpenGL is sent to the 16 3D systems via high-speed Gigabit networking.

2. Xserver: In addition to running the application, this machine also renders the 2D X window system and responds to the keyboard and mouse.

3. Compositor Controller: This machine controls operation of the Compositor via an RS-232 serial connection.

The Compositor processes the DVI video from each hp fx10 card and generates the output video. The Compositor can be programmed to process the video input signals in a number of ways.

hp visualization center sv6 operating modes

The key to understanding the hp visualization center sv6 conﬁgurations is to understand its three operating modes - Accelerate, Accumulate and Mixed. These modes can be changed using the /opt/graphics/OpenGL/sv/bin/setpipes command. In the descriptions below, a “pipe” refers to a workstation that does 3D rendering. A “channel” is the output sent to one output device.

• Accelerate Mode: Enhances rendering performance Each pipe renders a fraction of the screen, thus speeding up

performance.

Figure 2-6 Accelerate Mode - Vertical slice, Horizonal slice and Grid

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NOTE Each fraction of the screen is called a “screen rectangle.”

Example: In a conﬁguration with ﬁve workstations (one doing 2D rendering and four doing 3D rendering), each 3D workstation would output one of the four screen rectangle areas on the display.

You can specify how the screen is dissected. The basic options are grid, vertical slice, horizontal slice and pane. See the /opt/graphics/OpenGL/sv/doc/README.setpipes ﬁle for more details.

• Accumulate Mode: Improves Image Quality Each pipe generates the complete screen, “jittered” by sub-pixel

values. These jittered images are averaged together to achieve a better quality image. This mode is sometimes referred to as the anti-aliasing mode. The more workstations you add, the more samples can be taken, and the better the resulting image quality.

Figure 2-7 Accumulate Mode

• Mixed Mode: Combination of both Accelerate and Accumulate Modes

Each screen rectangle is generated (jittered and averaged) by the number of samples designated. There is improved image quality (anti-aliasing), and also improved performance (acceleration) since each area is generated by multiple workstations.

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