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  4. Need advice for a PC slave (VIs farm) with VEpro
  • Cyril BlancC
    Cyril BlancC

    Thanks you very much for your answer

    Is it possible that you look at the "used memory" before loading VEP in the MAC Mini

    did you try not loading the "Finder"

    Best

    Cyril
  • W
    W

    The System takes about 700mb of RAM - seems to be the same on all my Macs. I never bothered messing with the Finder - it uses close to 0% CPU and about 30mb RAM on my slaves - not worth the hassle.
  • D
    D

    Hi Wolfsterik,

    Sorry to further hijack this thread, but I have been asking a question on the hardware forum about this setup and not had any responses. I currently just have one mac mini, but plan to get another if the setup works. Do you operate your minis only via ethernet? Can you give me any tips re network settings (custom vs auto IP addresses and whether i need a switch or not). At the moment my main Mac can't find the Mac Mini (a new model) until I plug it's own monitor in (which I don't want to do). Also, is it all stable and able to do offline bouncing etc?

    Many thanks,

    David
  • W
    W

    David,

    yes, I operate the Mini's via Ethernet only. I use a Netgear GS605 switch - I was told a switch handles network traffic better than a router. They don't cost much - about $40.

    network setting: IPv4:I use DHCP with manual address. IP address: 192.168.0.xxx - last three is the number you assign to that Mac. This way I can conect the Minis to the internet if needed. You can also set IPv4 to Manually. I do this for my 2nd ethernet port on my main Mac, which is connected directly (no Ethernet switch) to another Mac Pro. For this I set IP to 192.168.2.xxx - I don't remember why, but it works. So afaik: use a switch and set the IPs manually, than your main Mac will find the slaves and especially when you reopen existing projects with VEP, it will know where to connect to.

    I control the slaves with Apple Remote Desktop, but you can also use the built in screen sharing (activate it in Sys prefs-Sharing), which costs you nothing extra and also works great.  I only had to connect a monitor for initial setup. The MIni now shows me a 1680x1050 display via Ethernet, which works beautifully for editing VEP setups.

    The setup is currently very stable; offline bouncing works great. etc: it's awesome!
  • M
    M

    Personally I'd never run minis as slave machines, they are way too expensive for the performance, especially compared to what you can get in an i7 PC.  The only reason to get one is the portability and for that I'd probably consider a rack mount PC.
  • D
    D

    Thanks Wolfsterik,

    That's all good to hear. With those xxx numbers, does it not matter what I chose for those (e.g. 1)? Also, do you recommend having wifi turned off for the mini slave? 

    Mike - it may not make much sense in terms of value, but in terms of space saving and - from what i can tell so far - noise and heat, they are great. Plus it makes things simpler to only have to worry about mac os, i think. 
  • Cyril BlancC
    Cyril BlancC

    Hello Mike

    What PC will you recommend ?

    Best

    Cyril
  • P
    P
    Hi, First I need to apologise to Wolfsterik. When I say a video is nice because we can see how you use the mac mini and VePro and the master etc...... I just dont want to made a mistake when I buy a machine and she must to correspond to my working way. But please if your setup is working properly can you developpe more here. And I invite more people to talk about her configuration. Thanks for your advices.
  • A
    A
    Core i7 920. killer fast PC. lots o' ram for cheap too. Build it yourself and save big. you can probably get 24GB RAM Core i7 built for under 1,500 now. o.0
  • W
    W
    last edited
    last edited

    @dschweitzer said:

    Thanks Wolfsterik,

    That's all good to hear. With those xxx numbers, does it not matter what I chose for those (e.g. 1)? Also, do you recommend having wifi turned off for the mini slave? 

     The main thing is that every slave has a unique number (eg: slave 1 = 110; slave 2 = 111...) and that it's between 1 and 254 (if I remember correctly). check this thread - cm's first reply - he's in the know: http://community.vsl.co.at/forums/t/18601.aspx

    I have Wifi turned off because I don't use it on the Minis.
  • W
    W

    p.pan, I understand. Maybe I'll do a setup video in the future - got no time (or muse) for it now. What specifically would you like to know?

    the basic principle of my setup is simple: Main Mac and a few slaves that hold the samples in RAM, all connected via Ethernet and running VEPro which in turn loads VSL or Kontakt libraries. Everything I will change frequently (synths, Omnisphere, drums, unusual sounds...) gets loaded on a project basis on my main MAC. Whether the slaves are Mac or PC is a matter of personal preference and how important budget is. I'm sure one can build super quiet and powerful PC slaves that cost less than Macs, but the no-hassle-factor is big for me, so I chose what I'm familiar with.

    One caveat I experienced with VEPro: If I have all 4 slaves connected, I can only have 18 VI-Frames connected; the more connected slaves, the fewer VI-Frames (Logic freezes if I try to connect more). I am interested in other users' experiences in this regard.