connecting two computers to run one program

danielboom

hi all i want to know if its possible to connect two computers to run one program. if your wondering why im doing this its because im building a home simulator and i need to connect lots of monitors for windows and glass displays ect.. if anyone knows how to do this then can you let me know please. thanks

chin_grin

Are you sure you don't mean two (and more) monitors to one pc? Easily done. (Display properties).

There's no way of sharing an application (unless you install it on the two pc's).

danielboom

chin_grin wrote: »

Are you sure you don't mean two (and more) monitors to one pc? Easily done. (Display properties).

There's no way of sharing an application (unless you install it on the two pc's).

no ive been looking into that and that wont work because. i need to connect atleast 6 monitors and ive heard that if i do that i will greatly reduce the performance of the pc. i would be able to run the app on two computers but how can i connect them together

chin_grin

danielboom wrote: »

no ive been looking into that and that wont work because. i need to connect atleast 6 monitors and ive heard that if i do that i will greatly reduce the performance of the pc. i would be able to run the app on two computers but how can i connect them together

Well what's the application? Do you only have one license?

Is there no way of installing more memory\better graphics card to one pc to run it?

danielboom

chin_grin wrote: »

Well what's the application? Do you only have one license?

Is there no way of installing more memory\better graphics card to one pc to run it?

its flight simulator x im using at the moment. can i not use the same product key to run it on another computer. if i cant i would buy another copy if i can connect them together.

ive seen home sims on youtube where some of them are using multiple computers

chin_grin

danielboom wrote: »

ive seen home sims on youtube where some of them are using multiple computers

Any links? I'm sure they're just using multiple monitors. Never heard of them using multiple pc's just to run one.

But yeah if you only have one product key you can only install it on one pc.

Torqay

Multi-monitor servers? video walls?

danielboom

chin_grin wrote: »

Any links? I'm sure they're just using multiple monitors. Never heard of them using multiple pc's just to run one.

But yeah if you only have one product key you can only install it on one pc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HARY1CvCGFU&feature=related

mine wouldnt be on the scale of this one but the same principals with connecting computers

BostonB

Your posting in the wrong forum. This a Flight Sim question best asked in Flight sim forums. The issue is flight sim is very cpu intensive, especially if you start opening new views for multiple monitors. The idea is therefore that if you run different views on different networked PC's like a multiplayer games you can off load the load of the view on to multiple PC's.

There was a TV programme I saw once were they recreated a Lancaster bomber with 5 RAF students as crew and I dunno something like 20 monitors and screens all using Multiple PC's and FS2004 etc. I can't find links to it at the moment. They had them do a simulated dambusters raid.

http://home.planet.nl/~jarkest/fs/fsnetworking.html

However this is how it used to be. Considering you can get a PC with multiple core, or multiple CPU's and use multiple Video cards these days I don't know which would be faster. I have a 2 cpu PC at work with 8 cores for example.

If you started asking on flight sim forums you get a better answer.

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forum_summary.html
http://forum.avsim.net/
http://combatace.com/index

BostonB

More here

http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/showthread.php/23078-power-supplies-and-computers-needed-to-run-a-cockpit

http://www.md80project.dk/portal/forum_topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=308&FORUM_ID=6&CAT_ID=1&Topic_Title=The+setup&Forum_Title=MD-80+%28Homebuild%29+Hardware

wexie

What you're looking to do is , unless the flightsim in question is written specifically with this in mind, highly unlikely to work unless you're willing to spend a (small) fortune.

While there are numerous software products that will be able to do SMP within the same PC/server there are only very few that can do this using multiple PC's or servers. The problem is that for this to work both instances of the software should have access to the same memory.

There are operating systems that allow this but to the best of my knowledge none of these are likely to be able to run a flightsimulator.

Or...more likely the operating system would be able, but I doubt you'd be able to find a flight sim written for it.

I think you'd be better off spending some money on decent graphics cards that will be able to offload the processing and upgrading the RAM in what you have. There should be no problem whatsoever using multiple monitors on a single (properly spec'd) system.

But then again, flightsim aren't really my thing. Maybe there are some out there that can use this technology but I doubt it.

BostonB

wexie wrote: »

What you're looking to do is , unless the flightsim in question is written specifically with this in mind....

It is kinda.

Heres another link I meant to post earlier
http://www.md80project.dk/portal/forum_topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=308&FORUM_ID=6&CAT_ID=1&Topic_Title=The+setup&Forum_Title=MD-80+%28Homebuild%29+Hardware

aidan_walsh

Moved from Computers & Technology.

John_Mc

You need WideFs

danielboom

John_Mc wrote: »

You need WideFs

what is that and how does it work

John_Mc

danielboom wrote: »

what is that and how does it work

Google it yourself :rolleyes:

BostonB

I think its for running control panels on a different computer, but that still communicate with flight sim on another PC. Things like this

http://www.fsbuild.com/navigator.html

http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?179697-WideFS-Do-you-use-it-amp-if-so-for-what

However it will not allow scenery or cockpit views on multiple PCs. Its not for that.

Maybe John_Mc could explain what he meant?

John_Mc

It's used to allow you to run applications which use FSX on several computers over a network. Applications such as Activesky, Squawkbox, Project magenta can all be run on different computers and connected through WideFs.

BostonB is right in that you can't run the visuals of FSX across two computers. You can only split them across screens from one computer.

Many home simulators use a high spec machine for running FSX & the visuals, and then one or more low spec computers to run the extra applications (Project magenta is what you should use if you have the budget)

BostonB

I think you/we are mixed up (I think)

You linked to WIDEFS7 which is used for gauges and other data based applications.

However what danielboom is looking for I think is this WidevieW.

WidevieW can be used to create virtual cockpits with panoramic scenery view, through multiple monitor support on networked PCs. There is no limit on how many PCs can be linked together, and each of them can be configured to show scenery, maps or Spot Plane & Tower view. View angles and zoom factors can be easily customized, to get perfectly matching images between the monitors.

http://www.wideview.it/wideview.htm

I think most of those links to cockpits refer to using both.

bandit197

It would be helpful to know what type of simulator it is going to be i.e. default GA aircraft like the Cessna 172 or a heavy like the PMDG 737 NGX.
Its important to know because the methods involved in creating the two different types vary quite a bit.

BostonB

bandit197 wrote: »

...the methods involved in creating the two different types vary quite a bit.

How so. Its all just gauges and monitors no?

bandit197

BostonB wrote: »

How so. Its all just gauges and monitors no?

Its the amount of them that makes the difference and the cpu power that's required behind them.

A default cessna simulator could be easily built with a projector for main view and a small monitor for gauges and Saitek or other switches and panels. One pc could run this setup using one decent GPU no problem.

With the likes of a complex addon like the PMDG you could still use the projector for main view. You would however need many more monitors to try to replicate the cockpit displays, 6 in total with the NG. Then you have overhead panels, autopilot panels etc. Think multiple GPU's and lots of processing power.

In short a GA sim takes a lot less money, time and cpu power to create.

danielboom

ok i was looking at the matrox triple head2go and if i use one of these to connect 3 monitors and connect a fourth off the second dvi port and i could connect my dispaly panels using one of those programs via a second computer. would this work or am i raving mad....

John_Mc

danielboom wrote: »

ok i was looking at the matrox triple head2go and if i use one of these to connect 3 monitors and connect a fourth off the second dvi port and i could connect my dispaly panels using one of those programs via a second computer. would this work or am i raving mad....

Performance will be an issue I think, but that's not going on much as you still haven't told us how you'll be using the sim. What utilities, aircraft addons etc

danielboom

i will be using fsx i have nearly every add on for the sim but i havent bought a computer yet so i guess im just trying to get more info on what kind i should get. im not building any particular copy of a cockpit but i will be using two saitek yokes, two trottle quadrants, and two rudder peddel systems, one saitek radio panel one multi panel and one switch panel. i will be using four monitors for wide view and two more smaller monitors for my glass displays

if thats possible.

Irish Steve

Been doing this for years with FS, and other packages as well, as good a place as any to see what's been happening is project magenta, among others. I had a 7 PC network running on a variant of ATP, called AS2 in 1996, and that also had a lot of extras in terms of autopilot control panel, centre console, and many other extras, and a while after that, I did a complete overhead panel for an Airbus 320 that was used for professional research by one of the Airbus partner companies in the UK, so there is a lot possible, and the computer hardware is a lot more powerful now than it was in 1996, back then, we were using 486/100's with about 768 Kb of memory.

danielboom

Irish Steve wrote: »

Been doing this for years with FS, and other packages as well, as good a place as any to see what's been happening is project magenta, among others. I had a 7 PC network running on a variant of ATP, called AS2 in 1996, and that also had a lot of extras in terms of autopilot control panel, centre console, and many other extras, and a while after that, I did a complete overhead panel for an Airbus 320 that was used for professional research by one of the Airbus partner companies in the UK, so there is a lot possible, and the computer hardware is a lot more powerful now than it was in 1996, back then, we were using 486/100's with about 768 Kb of memory.

thanks steve. very helpful. have you got any pics that you could attach i very interested to see it

thank you

Irish Steve

I have pictures, but not that I can put my hand on at the moment. Size wise, it was loosely based on a lot of measurements taken from the former Aer Lingus 737 200 sim, but the flight instruments and autopilot side of it was based more on Airbus, and we used a number of different aircraft flight models, the main one being MD83, so in that respect, it was a real hybrid.

Given the time that was in it, the view monitors were 4 28" CRT's, which were a nightmare to move around the place, due to the size and weight, and we had 6 10" monitors in the panel for the flight instruments, and then there was one PC that was the "master" machine that actually did the flight side of things, all of them connected together on an Ethernet network, which could also then be connected externally to other networks for things like ATC, TCAS, and other things like weather, failures etc.

The later development was a 17 machine network in the UK, which also had a powerful instructor station, a fully implemented overhead panel from A320, with all the switches operational and linked into the sim, and correctly illuminated, and a lot of other extras, such as gear, throttles, reversers with locking, gear, flap controls, full flight management system with correct keyboard, it was used for human factors research on flight deck instrumentation, had to be very accurate, as it was "flown" by type rated pilots. the views were 37" CRT's. and they also had eye movement tracking, all captured in real time along with the flight parameters so that they could see the effect of different warnings and alerts, and the crew response to them.

It was way ahead of it's time in respect to where other sims went, but the thing that did more damage than anything else was 9-11, as that killed the low end simulator market, made it very hard or impossible for non airline people like us to get sim time to validate the work we were doing, and also killed things like in flight flight deck visits and the like.

Off topic. but relevant, I'm pretty sure that's why the new Microsoft Flight has been done the way it has, there's not a lot on Hawaii that can be crashed into, and all the aircraft in that package are small, so again the potential for damage and accurate training is limited. Sad fact, and not likely to be shouted about by anyone from Microsoft, but a relevant and uncomfortable factor.

I know from my own personal experience that were I of a mind to, I would be more than able to fly just about any large commercial jet with sufficient accuracy to be able to make a successful landing in even marginal conditions, having done so on more than a few occasions in a number of different heavy jet simulators, yet in theory, the only aircraft I'm "rated" on would be a light twin. At the time of 9-11, that was a major concern, and in some respects it still is, there's enough information available in the public domain to make it relatively easy to produce a high fidelity simulation for just about any type out there that's in common use, the biggest issue being getting an accurate flight model. In that respect, FS and most other sims are not that good, and one has to be honest and say that in some respects, that's probably just as well.

Re the photos, I will have a look, the office area is in more than a little chaos at the moment due to some changes being made, so I'm not exactly sure where the pics are right now, if I can put my hand on them, I'll post some up here.

bandit197

Irish Steve wrote: »

Off topic. but relevant, I'm pretty sure that's why the new Microsoft Flight has been done the way it has, there's not a lot on Hawaii that can be crashed into, and all the aircraft in that package are small, so again the potential for damage and accurate training is limited. Sad fact, and not likely to be shouted about by anyone from Microsoft, but a relevant and uncomfortable factor.

Flight is Hawaii and small aircraft at the moment because Microsoft want to drip feed out DLC in the form of new scenery and aircraft not because there's not a lot on Hawaii that can be crashed into. (the good people of downtown Honolulu might argue that there is plenty to crash into!)