We’re discussing the configuration of Deadline 7 here and have some controversial wishes: the 2D/Nuke guys want to have “first in/first out” scheduling order, the 3D guys prefer a balanced order.
We already added 2 pools to our farm: 2d and 3d. So our ideal scheduling order would be:
Pool = 2d, priority, first in/first out
Pool = 3d, priority, balanced
Is there any chance to set the scheduling order basend on the primary pool of a job? Or is this just impossible? What would be your advice how to deal with these contrary wishes?
In general, Deadline does not yet support the running of multiple scheduling algorithms in parallel. We are considering several improvements for Deadline’s Job Scheduling capabilities, and this is on the list.
You could achieve a form of quasi-balancing for the 3d pool by splitting it into multiple primary pools and then using the secondary pool feature. This would require a JobSubmitted Event script to adjust the primary pool so that submitted Jobs are distributed across the set of primary 3d pools. Slaves for which there are no available Jobs associated with their primary pool would then fall back to a common secondary pool.
Were it my shop, I would probably try to convince the compositing department to accept the Pool, Priority, Balanced approach since it provides more immediate feedback to artists. Faster feedback increases iteration speed since bad renders get canceled before consuming farm resources. In cases where a Job needs to get out quickly, it’s a simple matter of escalating its Priority. Of course, every shop has it’s own values, so this may not be an option.