Starting the backburner Servers

After Manager is started, you can start Server on each workstation participating in the network render. To network render, at least one workstation must be running Server.

Note: You can also run the Server application as a Windows service. See the backburner Online Help for more information.

To start the Server application:

1. Go to a workstation designated as the render server.
2. Do one of the following:
• Choose Start | Program Files | discreet | backburner Server.
• Open the discreet/backburner folder and double-click the Server icon.



The Server window appears and the messages "Starting backburner Server" and "Loading plugin: combustion render plugin" are displayed.



Server searches the network for the Manager application. Once the manager is found, the message "Registration to {manager IP address} accepted" appears, indicating that the server has successfully established communication with the manager.

If the manager is not found, see Connecting to the Manager.

Note: By default, the server will register to the first backburner Manager it finds on the network (or to the name/IP address in the preferences). To select a different backburner Manager, you can manually enter the manager name or IP address in the preferences.

3. To view messages from the manager and see server activity logs, keep the Server window open.

Otherwise, you can minimize the window.

4. Repeat these steps to start the Server application on each workstation participating in the network render.

Connecting to the Manager

By default, Use First Available is enabled in the Server preferences, so the server automatically looks for a manager. If the message "Looking for a manager using {IP address with Manager port}" repeats, it is likely the server cannot find the manager.

To help the server find the manager:

1. In the Server application, choose Edit | Preferences.

The Preferences dialog appears.



2. Do one of the following:
• Check that the manager port and server port match the values set in the Manager preferences.
• Disable First Available and enter the manager name (or IP address). To find the name or IP address, go to the workstation running Manager.
• Check that the subnet mask matches the settings for your network.

To find the workstation's name, go to the Network control panel and look at the computer name on the Identification panel. To find the workstation's IP address or subnet mask, go to the Network control panel, and on the Protocols panel, select TCP/IP and click Properties. You may need Administrator privileges to view this information.

3. Click OK to close the Preferences dialog.

If the message "Could not find a Manager. Will keep trying" or "Manager is not responding" appears in the Server window list, see the Troubleshooting section in the backburner Online Help.