This overview of SGI ImageSync 1.0 consists of the following sections:
The SGI Graphics Cluster uses either the Linux or Windows NT operating system and incorporates proprietary hardware and software from SGI. The hardware consists of the following:
A single master node
Multiple visual channel nodes (each with a commercial graphics card)
An Ethernet backbone, including a network switch
An optional SGI ImageSync network
Figure 1-1 illustrates the hardware architecture.
The software for the SGI Graphics Cluster Series 12 consists of the following:
Operating system (Windows NT 4.0 or SGI Linux kernel with XFS support (2.4.2-5SGI-137 or greater)
SGI ImageSync device drivers
SGI SynaptIQ (Linux systems only)
SGI DataSync (Linux systems only)
Figure 1-2 illustrates the software architecture.
The SGI ImageSync component provides the hardware and sofware needed to synchronize the displays of all your graphics systems in the various nodes. SGI ImageSync 1.0 provides the frame lock feature, line-locked video through a daisy-chained system of SGI ImageSync cards. It guarantees pixel-locked video streams with a phase difference of less than 50 pixels.
As illustrated in Figure 1-2, SGI ImageSync 1.0 supports two of four possible data paths for your applications. Each path uses a subset or the full set of features provided by the SGI Graphics Cluster system. Table 1-1 describes the four data paths.
Table 1-1. SGI ImageSync 1.0 Features
Data Path | Features Used | OS Support |
|---|---|---|
Application to OS directly | Frame lock | Windows NT and Linux |
Application to SGI DataSync to OS | Frame lock | Linux |
Application to OpenGL to OS |
| Windows NT and Linux |
Application to SGI DataSync to OpenGL to OS |
| Linux |