Distributed OrcaFlex

Distributed OrcaFlex consists of three separate programs. A Distributed OrcaFlex client program is run on each machine available to run jobs (each such machine must have an OrcaFlex license). One machine on the network runs a Distributed OrcaFlex server program that coordinates the list of jobs to be run and allocates jobs to the clients. Finally, a Distributed OrcaFlex viewer program can be run on any machine. This viewer program displays the current list of jobs and their current status (e.g. pending, running, completed etc.) and allows jobs to be submitted and stopped.

Each client can be enabled (willing to accept jobs) or disabled (set to refuse jobs) at any time. Also, a client currently running a job can be told to abort the job, and the server will then reallocate the job to a different client where it will restart from the latest stored state.

When the client program is allocated a job it runs the job but it does so at low operating system priority. The effect of this is that the job runs as a background task that does not significantly interfere with other tasks on that machine. So if the machine is otherwise idle (e.g. at night) then the job will run at maximum speed, but if a user is working on the machine then they do not notice significant degradation in performance since their work takes priority and the Distributed OrcaFlex job only runs when the machine has done the user's work. There is therefore normally no need to disable clients.

Downloading and Installing Distributed OrcaFlex

The latest version of Distributed OrcaFlex is 2.6a which can be installed by following these steps:

1. Download DOF Manual.pdf (161 KB) which contains documentation for Distributed OrcaFlex including an installation guide.
2. Download DistributedOrcaFlex.zip (3.7 MB), unzip the contents, and run the extracted file Setup.exe.

What's New in version 2.6a

• The Distributed OrcaFlex Server is now capable of bringing client machines out of Standby or Hibernation to run jobs.
• Viewer and Client registry entries have been moved and renamed to allow closer interaction with OrcaFlex. You can now add a job from within OrcaFlex (requires OrcaFlex 9.2 or greater).
• The Console program now allows you to submit multiple jobs by specifying a text file containing a list of jobs.