How is a cluster different from a farm?

Question

Iron

Actually the question is in the title, and also, is there any literature on deploying a cluster for rendering? Or is it better to raise a render farm?

Answer 1

Both terms do not have strict boundaries of application. A farm is usually a subset of independent but interchangeable servers that perform the same roles that share the load, i.e. farm is the result of pronounced horizontal scaling. In a high load application, there may be several different farms, each of which specializes in one task. A cluster in parallel computing is a group of machines consisting of identical nodes (with the same equipment) with the same performance (unlike a grid, which is built from nodes of different suits). A cluster in enterprise networks is usually a group of machines with a common (or synchronized) data storage and a common cluster configuration, which function as a single computing structure for enterprise software that supports clustering, such clustering in some situations can be attributed to vertical scaling, and not to horizontal. But more generally, cluster and farm can be used interchangeably.
PS in general - a million ants building one anthill - this is a farm. Three horses harnessed to one team is a cluster.