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We are now using dual 2.2G Intel Xeon processor pc's with 512M RAM, dual
NIC's (one Gig, one 100Base) and 3D Labs Wildcat 6210 graphics cards to
drive our Cube.
The fully loaded rack was designed to be a roll-in replacement for the
previous generation of Cube graphics engine. Network connection,
graphics feeds and stereo sync pulses are all located on convenient
connectors in the rear of the rack.
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The front of the rack has a Tripp-lite 8 port KVM switch used to feed
the monitor on the top of the rack. The KVM is isolated from the
main graphics outputs by six Extron 109xi interface boxes.
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Keyboard and mouse (or track pad) are on a rack-mounted slide-out tray
and control the seven pc's in the rack through he KVM switch. |
| Rack mounted and accessible from the rear of the rack, the
eight port 1Gig network switch is for internal communication among the
pc's in the rack. There is no connection to the outside world on
this network. |
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A second network channel uses this 100Base hub to connect the machines
in the rack among themselves and also to the outside world.
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We used whatever equipment rack we had sitting around
for our first generation pc Cube engine, but that lead to a mess of
peripheral gear around the rack. This rack is 72" tall and most
importantly 36" deep, allowing essentially two racks worth of gear to
be mounted, one in front (the pc's) and one in the rear (all the
peripheral gear). Nice wheelies and front and rear case covers make
this rack easy to maneuver and shippable too. |
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Rack mounted, but having the isolated BNC outputs external to the
rack, this configuration allows for easy connection to our matrix video
switch via the cables coming up from under the computer floor.
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An awful lot of heat is generated in the rack. A
big fan is cheap insurance against overheating. |
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Distribution of the vertical sync signal of the master pc to the
other 5 graphics pc's and of the stereo trigger signal for the active
stereo glasses' emitters is handled by a simple video distribution amp
(one in- six out x 2).
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A little planning can prevent daisy-chaining of power
strips and dangling messes of wall-warts in the rack. This
rack-mounted arrangement gives the rack 36 receptacles on three separate
120 volt/20 amp power circuits. |
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To get the genlock signal required by the Wildcat 6210 graphics
cards, we use an HD-15 to 5BNC breakout cable. The vertical signal
from the vga graphics on this cable loops through an unterminated input
on the video distribution amp and again becomes an HD-15 feed through
another HD-15 to 5BNC breakout cable, which then feeds the Extron box of
the first graphics channel.
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