Linux lands starring role in Shrek 2

DreamWorks Animation has beefed up its technology infrastructure by tapping into an off-site 1,000-processor computing farm built on Linux.

The film company, which created the Shrek animated movie, chose Hewlett Packard (HP) to deliver the utility-based enterprise environment, dubbed HP Utility Rendering Service (URS).

It will be used for off-site animation rendering and remote collaboration in soon-to-be released feature films Shrek 2, Shark Tale and Madagascar.

The computing farm is based on HP ProLiant DL360 servers running Linux and HP ProCurve network switches. It is linked via a high-speed network to the DreamWorks Animation studios to provide an extension of the film company's internal data centre.

HP said its URS system allowed DreamWorks to take capacity on demand when it was needed in the final stages of rendering Shrek 2.

So far more than half a million individual frames have been processed on the infrastructure, the firm said.

Working with HP, DreamWorks developed the Virtual Studio Collaboration project to address the need to connect geographically dispersed teams and provide collaboration capabilities.

"Through our partnership, we are changing what is possible in animation," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks co-founder, in a statement.

"With HP we are breaking down technological barriers and achieving great results."