2 Slave PCs Ensemble Pro 6

[S9DD]

Hello Everyone,

I would like to ask if anyone is currently using 2 or more slave PCs, either on Win7 x64 or Win10 x64 operating systems?

If so, are you streaming audio simultaneously from these slaves simultaneously, or one at a time?

Our application is live performance - so we are ideally searching for a solution using 2 slaves simultaneously, to halve the workload of 1.  Our research "tends" to the idea that only one live slave will work, but this could be our network set up - currently we have 2 slaves connected to a master by a single dedicated unmanaged Gbit switch. 

We do have the option of 2 NICs on the master, and cross patching to each slave instead, although it is questionable as to whether this will help or not.  It will demand a 3rd NIC for normal network traffic.
 
Finally, are there any resources for configuring W10 networks people have found useful?  I am finding controlling W10 x64 networks so much harder than it needs to be at the moment.  I just want to tell Windows DON'T use this network for anything other than audio ( or conversely, use only THIS one).  Not so easy to do it seems.

DD. 

[S9DD]

Anyone?  No one? 

If I do a Google search for setting up VE Pro networks and there is nothing except some videos on VE Pro itself using a single slave.  Is there a white paper on multi-PC set ups with this product?

Or am I on my own with this?

[Paul]

Hi DD, 

Maybe I don´t understand the problem, but I think this is much easier than it sounds.

Connecting all computers with a router/switch in a setup with multiple computers is not a problem.

Am I overlooking something?

Best, 
Paul

[Bill]

How could there be other network trafic during a live performance?

[S9DD]

Thanks for responding.

Can you confirm that you mean YES you can send MIDI from the master, and get realtime output from both slave computers at the same time, without glitching in the audio, using a Gbit switch to network them?  Is there an upper limit on the slave PC count working like this in parallel?

Or do you mean YES you can connect these PCs up and address them individually, as a composer would with a DAW, rendering each track to audio as soon as possible in their process?  We do this already, works a treat.  And with respect, that is not the question I am asking.

And is there any improvement using a dedicated 4port network card and using cross patching - for example an Intel Ethernet Server Adapter I350-T4.  One assumes there would be less network collision, and therefore more bandwidth.

Again, a whitepaper reference for recommended set ups would be helpful. 

Intel Ethernet Server Adapter I350-T4 network adapter

Intel Ethernet Server Adapter I350-T4 network adapter

[S9DD]

Sometimes other network traffic is generated by Windows in the background, so unless the processes causing it are steered in a different direction, your audio PCs will chatter from time to time without you knowing.  Using a packet sniffer like Wireshark you can monitor your NIC and this will give you some clues as to what is going on.

I have also been told Glasswire will help identify applications causing the traffic, and not just packets, although I have yet to try this myself.

[Bill]

You're overthinking this...

VEP is designed to work with many slaves simultainiouly in real time (including windows traffic).

[S9DD]

May I ask how many slaves you use, if you use them in parallel, and what difference you have found in performance between setups you have tried?