(v13) Running with multiple blades, Multi-server Scalable RIP

This page applies to Harlequin v13.1r0 and later; and to Harlequin Core but not Harlequin MultiRIP

There are two command-line options that enable this:

The -nrips option is the same as used for the Scalable RIP. Using a satellite blade controller only works when the controlling RIP is persistent. The PostScript form of the path used to submit files to the controller RIP must exist on all machines, as must the output path. This usually means using a network drive on non-central blade controllers to the hotfolder or indeed all blades using a network drive.

Example of using two blades

Central blade (m1):

clrip.exe -m 4000 -C -c CMYKComposite300dpi -X -nrips 4 -f O:\OUTPUT\

-H I:\hot-01

Satellite blade (m2):

clrip.exe -m 4000 -C -nrips 4 -cbc m1 -f O:\OUTPUT\

On both machines, the path to the hot folder must exist (that is, on machines m1 and m2 in the above example, the path I:\hot-01 must exist). This is because this path is sent to RIPs on the satellite blade controller from the job controller on the central blade controller (m1).

NOTE:   RIP IDs on the controller RIP will always start from 1 onwards.

NOTE:   Farm RIPs on satellite blades will be launched slightly differently. Mainly, the

-cbc <Hostname | IP address> will be added to their command line so that they know which machine is the central blade controller. On the central blade controller, this command-line option is not needed, as the default is 127.0.0.1.