Network roles - Stand-alone, Client or Server

Network roles are used to clearly define the responsibility of each machine in your Pixotope network.

A network role has to be chosen the first time you start Director. However, a machine is not locked to this specific role. If the setup of your production changes, you can easily change its role via the Machine settings.

Keep track of all your machines' roles, and other settings from the Machines panel

Stand-alone

Choose this role for a single machine production.

Client

Choose this role for all machines in a Multi-machine production which connect to a Server, and work on the Server’s open show.

The display name and color of a Client can be changed in SETUP > Configure > Machines. Learn more about how to Configure machines

Server

Choose this role for the machine in a Multi-machine production which

• stores/owns the show file

• hosts Pixotope’s multi-machine network, allowing Clients to connect and work on the same projects

• runs the Asset Hub server and holds its cache

A server accepts connections from all machines on the same subnet.

We recommend to use a Control license. It is best practice to not render levels or run tracking through this machine.

The display color of a server is fixed (pink).

Main/Backup Server

Learn more about how to Use Main/Backup Server (failover)